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[
{
"title": "Press encounter chemical irritants, blocked access at New Jersey protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-encounter-chemical-irritants-blocked-access-at-new-jersey-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2026-06-04T21:24:43.701000Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-07-28T15:09:56.067936Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-07-28T15:04:17.466505Z",
"date": "2026-05-22",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Newark",
"longitude": -74.17237,
"latitude": 40.73566,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"crwl1\"><i>Protests broke out in late May 2026 in Newark, New Jersey, outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility, when many detainees went on a hunger strike. Members of Congress, state and local lawmakers and rights groups have alleged dire conditions at the facility. The Department of Homeland Security has denied the allegations of detainee mistreatment.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"c1ju2\"><i>Federal officers and then state and local police responded to the protests with chemical irritants, physical force and arrests.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"brtiv\"><i>Journalists on the ground described being exposed to chemical irritants fired by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and New Jersey State Police, being forced to pull back from the protest area and otherwise being impeded from documenting the protests.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"9j7ri\"><i>Although these incidents do not constitute official press freedom violations under the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s criteria, we’ve provided a roundup of them below, organized by date (our reporting on the formal press freedom violations we cataloged in Newark in May and June is</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-05-22&date_upper=2026-06-01&city=Newark&state=New+Jersey&tags=protest\"><i>here</i></a><i>).</i></p><p data-block-key=\"d2vce\"><i>This roundup will be updated as additional incidents are verified. To date, law enforcement agencies have not responded to multiple requests for comment.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"dnb7n\"><i>To learn more about how the Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit our</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/frequently-asked-questions/\"><i>FAQ page</i></a><i>.</i></p><h4 data-block-key=\"7mokg\">May 26, 2026</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"e3ml8\"><b>Ben Ackman</b>, on assignment for the New Jersey Monitor, told the Tracker he was indirectly exposed to pepper spray used by ICE and was unable to work for about 30 minutes while flushing the irritant from his eyes. Also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-by-federal-officer-at-new-jersey-immigration-protest/\">that day</a>, he was shoved by an agent.</li><li data-block-key=\"3o4dv\">Photographer <b>David “Dee” Delgado</b>, who was on assignment for Reuters, told the Tracker he was hit by pepper spray after a federal officer indiscriminately sprayed the crowd during an ICE charge toward a line of protesters. “He was just spraying everybody; it didn’t matter who.” Earlier <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-shoved-pepper-sprayed-at-new-jersey-immigration-protest/\">that day</a>, Delgado was deliberately pepper-sprayed by an officer.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-aligned_image block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n\t\n\n\n\n <img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-05-27T022858Z_1537304757_RC2BHLADRGMA_RTR.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"552\" alt=\"REUTERS / DAVID “DEE” DELGADO\">\n\n\n\t\n\t<figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t<p data-block-key=\"6kats\">A federal officer, at left, sprays a chemical irritant during an immigration protest outside a detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, on May 26, 2026. Photojournalist David “Dee” Delgado was pepper-sprayed while covering the demonstration.</p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t> — REUTERS / DAVID “DEE” DELGADO\n\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\n\t</figcaption>\n\t\n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"9hsgl\">Freelance journalist <b>Amanda Moore</b> told the Tracker she was sprayed by a chemical irritant during her evening coverage, causing measurable pain. Moore, who didn’t believe she had been targeted, said federal officers were spraying “super powerful crowd-control spray on individuals.” Later that day, a federal officer pointed a Taser at her while in pursuit of a protester.</li><li data-block-key=\"f7if3\">Multimedia journalist <b>Oliya Scootercaster</b> <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DY0-cb4EkF-/\">posted a video</a> on Instagram of a federal officer pepper-spraying a crowd, the irritant wafting toward her camera.</li><li data-block-key=\"d5p25\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Christian Vazquez</b> told the Tracker that while he was documenting the protest, ICE agents called out to him and other journalists by name, reading from their press credentials, in what he described as an “intimidation tactic.”</li></ul><h4 data-block-key=\"bn6fr\">May 27, 2026</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"ulp2\">EPA Images photojournalist <b>Olga Fedorova</b> was repeatedly pepper-sprayed while covering demonstrations that day. “Because I would get pepper-sprayed three or four times through the day or through the night,” Fedorova said, “when I took off my PPE whatever was left on my skin from that — even though I was super careful — left me instantly blinded just from the sheer quantity of it.” <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-knocked-to-ground-at-protest-gear-damaged/\">Also that day</a>, she was threatened with batons and knocked to the ground multiple times by ICE officers, and her lens filter and gas mask were damaged in the process.</li><li data-block-key=\"af2nf\">Photojournalist <b>Stephanie Keith</b> told the Tracker that an ICE agent raised his baton at her as she was <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DY30p5QjqZE/\">photographing him</a>. “He lifted up the baton like he was going to bring it down like straight smack down on the top of my head.”</li><li data-block-key=\"53f62\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Edna Leshowitz</b> took several photos showing a federal officer shining a light into her camera lens. She told the Tracker it felt deliberate. That day, she was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-trampled-shoulder-injured-at-new-jersey-immigration-protest/\">trampled and injured.</a></li><li data-block-key=\"73pmd\">Photojournalist <b>Ryan Murphy</b>, on assignment for Reuters, told the Tracker that he was caught up in pepper spray fired into the crowd by ICE officers. And in images he filed with the wire agency, a federal officer can be seen shining a high-powered light directly into his lens, a tactic reported by multiple other journalists. Also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-baton-doused-with-irritant-at-new-jersey-protest/\">that day</a>, he was hit with a police baton and deliberately sprayed with the chemical irritant.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-aligned_image block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n\t\n\n\n\n <img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-05-28T060855Z_579127650_RC23ILA43911_RTRM.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"552\" alt=\"REUTERS / RYAN MURPHY\">\n\n\n\t\n\t<figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t<p data-block-key=\"0fjlz\">ICE agents during a protest outside an immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, on May 27, 2026. One officer shines a light into photojournalist Ryan Murphy’s camera as he captures the photo.</p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t> — REUTERS / RYAN MURPHY\n\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\n\t</figcaption>\n\t\n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"4er6i\">Photojournalist <b>Cristina Panagi</b> told the Tracker that pepper spray fired into the crowd by ICE seeped beneath her protective goggles and caused her forehead to burn. Also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-by-ice-officer-at-new-jersey-immigration-protest/\">that day</a>, she was pushed by an ICE officer.</li><li data-block-key=\"8381f\">Videographer <b>Theoren Papp,</b> of Level 12 Productions, told the Tracker that he was affected by pepper spray deployed by ICE. “It got in my eyes pretty decently,” said Papp, who doesn’t think the irritant was aimed at him, though he had to briefly shut down his livestream to recover.</li><li data-block-key=\"dcjmo\">Multimedia journalist <b>Oliya Scootercaster</b> <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DY34RPPDXfb/\">posted a video</a> on Instagram of an ICE agent dispensing pepper spray in her direction. In other videos posted that day, she was continuously exposed to chemical irritants.</li><li data-block-key=\"37ic0\">Independent reporter <b>Yaakov Strasberg</b> told the Tracker that he was affected by pepper spray fired by federal officers that still lingered in the air.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"9lfub\"><b>May 28, 2026</b></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"4u9kk\">Photojournalist <b>Mostafa Bassim</b> of Turkey’s Anadolu Agency told the Tracker that he was affected by chemical irritants sprayed indiscriminately by ICE officers outside the facility. He added that as soon as he arrived at the detention center, federal officers began shining high-powered lights directly at him. Later that day, an officer struck Bassim’s camera with a baton, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-baton-lens-destroyed-at-new-jersey-protest/\">splitting his lens in half</a>.</li><li data-block-key=\"ehkgu\"><b>Michael Karas</b>, a photo and video journalist for NorthJersey.com, was threatened with a chemical irritant by a federal agent while documenting the protest, as shown in a photo posted by <a href=\"https://www.northjersey.com/picture-gallery/news/new-jersey/2026/05/28/ice-agents-protesters-clash-at-delaney-hall-as-tensions-escalate/90300936007/\">the outlet</a> and on his <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DY7ldV2kaVD/?img_index=3\">Instagram</a>.</li><li data-block-key=\"e2278\">Photojournalist <b>Angelina Katsanis</b>, on assignment for The Associated Press, was pepper-sprayed in the face by an ICE officer while documenting the protests, according to an <a href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-angelina-after-delaney-hall-attack?attribution_id=sl:492f8edf-c415-4087-bac1-bd07e2c1ca8e&lang=en_US&ts=1780260895&utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=amp17_td-amp20_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link\">online fundraiser posted on her behalf</a>. Two days later, she was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-wooden-board-while-covering-new-jersey-protest/\">hit in the knee with a wooden board</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-equipment-stolen-after-injury-at-new-jersey-protest/\">had her gear bag stolen by a police officer</a> while covering the protests.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-instagram block-instagram\"><div class=\"instagram-embed\">\n\t<div>\n <blockquote\n\tclass=\"instagram-media\"\n\tdata-instgrm-permalink=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DY7VNeZjtSd/?utm_source=ig_embed\"\n\tdata-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n\t<a class=\"btn btn-secondary\" href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DY7VNeZjtSd\">View post on Instagram</a>\n</blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://www.instagram.com/embed.js\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"6avil\">Photojournalist <b>Stephanie Keith</b> told the Tracker she was hit with an irritant that ICE deployed into the crowd. “It was like a garden hose worth of pepper spray on everybody.”</li><li data-block-key=\"dec7t\"><b>Dean Moses</b>, amNewYork’s police bureau chief and resident photographer, was struck by pepper spray fired by an ICE officer, the outlet <a href=\"https://www.amny.com/news/delaney-hall-ice-agents-beat-protesters-05282026/\">reported</a>. Moses told the Tracker that it was “very hard to know for sure” whether the officer targeted him as a member of the press. “It was so chaotic.”</li><li data-block-key=\"fp5fi\">Photojournalist <b>Ryan Murphy</b>, on assignment for Reuters, told the Tracker that an ICE officer pointed a Taser directly at him. Also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-requires-stitches-after-baton-strike-at-new-jersey-protest/\">that day</a>, he was hit in the hand with a baton, needing stitches.</li><li data-block-key=\"1tt8\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Ian Peters</b> told the Tracker that ICE agents shined their flashlights at his camera while he was taking pictures.</li><li data-block-key=\"1jju6\">Independent reporter <b>Nick Valencia</b> told the Tracker that he received a notification that an Apple AirTag, a type of tracking device, had been traveling with him while documenting the protest. “I should not have my footsteps tracked for six hours unless someone was doing something nefarious,” said Valencia, who never found a physical AirTag on his person.</li><li data-block-key=\"ahhp6\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Christian Vazquez</b> told the Tracker that while documenting the protest in the afternoon, an ICE agent pushed a protester into him, and he suffered a minor scrape. In the evening, he was exposed to chemical irritants that ICE agents fired “randomly.” He said the irritant got through a hole in his goggles and hit his left eye, and that he was <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DY7sQuuFuQw/?img_index=11\">treated</a> by medics who flushed his eyes. He <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DY52QE8oyCR/\">described</a> that experience in a video posted on Instagram.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-instagram block-instagram\"><div class=\"instagram-embed\">\n\t<div>\n <blockquote\n\tclass=\"instagram-media\"\n\tdata-instgrm-permalink=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DY52QE8oyCR/?utm_source=ig_embed\"\n\tdata-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n\t<a class=\"btn btn-secondary\" href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DY52QE8oyCR\">View post on Instagram</a>\n</blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://www.instagram.com/embed.js\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"xyezg\"><b>Stephen Yang</b>, on assignment for the New York Post, told the Tracker he was also affected by the chemical irritant. “I’m still getting the pepper spray out of my equipment and clothes and bag.”</li><li data-block-key=\"dhno3\">An <b>anonymous photojournalist</b> told the Tracker they were sprayed with a chemical irritant while covering the protest that night, but could not say whether it was targeted. Later that night, a federal officer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-baton-flash-damaged-by-federal-officer/\">struck the photojournalist’s camera</a> with a baton, smashing its flash transmitter.</li><li data-block-key=\"82chu\">An <b>independent photographer</b>, who also asked to remain anonymous, told the Tracker that as they were documenting the protest, an ICE officer doused them with pepper spray that he fired indiscriminately. “I had goggles on and a mask, but that stuff goes everywhere,” the photographer said.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"b7j76\"><b>May 29, 2026</b></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"7omma\">Status Coup photojournalist <b>Will Allen-DuPraw</b> told the Tracker he was exposed to multiple crowd-control munitions, including tear gas and stun grenades, while covering the protest. Officers also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-riot-shields-by-new-jersey-state-police/\">struck him and shoved him back</a> with their riot shields as he was documenting an individual’s arrest.</li><li data-block-key=\"b106b\">New Jersey State Police ordered a three-member WNBC television news crew — reporter <b>Checkey Beckford</b> and two photojournalists wearing press credentials — out of their marked news vehicle and into a cloud of tear gas, Beckford <a href=\"https://www.nbcnewyork.com/new-jersey/delaney-hall-protest-news-crew-tear-gas/6507083/\">reported</a>. The police <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/state-police-pull-photographer-from-news-car-during-new-jersey-protest/\">pulled</a> one of the photojournalists out of the car.</li><li data-block-key=\"enq7p\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Bruce Cotler</b> told the Tracker that federal officers shined a bright light in his lens to prevent him from taking photos. Also that day, he was affected by tear gas and pepper spray and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-over-concrete-barrier-at-new-jersey-protest/\">pushed over a concrete barrier.</a></li><li data-block-key=\"fu4lg\">Status Coup photojournalist <b>Jon Farina</b> told the Tracker that he was <a href=\"https://x.com/StatusCoup/status/2060554897423307020\">filming</a> as mounted state police officers advanced into the crowd, using the horses to “sideswipe” individuals and push everyone onto the sidewalk. “We’re backing up and scrambling, and then I had to duck under the horse’s head, because the horse’s head was coming right at me,” Farina said. “But my camera’s on the tripod, so it was above me and the horse’s head smacked right into my camera. My camera did a 360 and I mean it was freaking cartoonish.” He added that he was uninjured and the camera sustained no damage. Both <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videojournalist-targeted-with-tear-gas-stun-grenades-at-new-jersey-protest/\">Farina</a> and Status Coup reporter and CEO <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-targeted-with-tear-gas-stun-grenades-at-new-jersey-protest/\">Jordan Chariton</a> were also targeted with crowd-control munitions that night, including stun grenades and tear gas.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-tweet block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨 POLICE HORSE HITS OUR CAMERA! 🚨<br><br>Absolute chaos outside the Newark ICE prison as a police horse literally hits Status Coup’s camera during Day 8 of the hunger/labor strike.<br><br>“What makes these state troopers different than ICE?!” <a href=\"https://x.com/JordanChariton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JordanChariton</a> says as officers push through… <a href=\"https://t.co/1VkaVPJxrE\">pic.twitter.com/1VkaVPJxrE</a></p>— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) <a href=\"https://x.com/StatusCoup/status/2060554897423307020?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2026</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.x.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"836dm\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Q. Sakamaki</b> posted an <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZBi9eADV3b/?img_index=16\">image to Instagram</a> in which a federal officer can be seen shining a bright light directly into his camera lens, a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-baton-lens-destroyed-at-new-jersey-protest/\">tactic</a> that multiple journalists have said ICE officers used. A second officer appears to be making eye contact with the photojournalist as he aims a crowd-control weapon toward protesters and journalists.</li><li data-block-key=\"330gc\">Independent reporter <b>Nick Valencia</b> told the Tracker that strong chemical irritants seeped under his gas mask and caused him to violently choke, <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/reel/1512186563706376\">which he captured on Facebook</a>. He said state police also pointed their crowd-control munition launchers at him, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-knocked-down-by-police-fired-at-with-flash-bang-at-new-jersey-protest/\">fired a flash bang at him and pushed him</a>.</li><li data-block-key=\"e1su5\">Freelance video producer <b>Anita Wise</b> told the Tracker that she was documenting the peaceful protest when suddenly, after dark, the state police came out shooting pepper balls and chemical irritants, and being “very aggressive.” She said she had to run away from the gas, adding, “I was just shocked; it was really absurd, especially when the protesters weren’t doing anything. And so for that reason, I came back Saturday, and I came back Sunday.” On Sunday, May 31, Wise was <a href=\"/all-incidents/video-producer-thrown-to-ground-arrested-while-covering-new-jersey-protest/\">violently arrested</a> while covering the protest.</li><li data-block-key=\"3m106\"><b>Stephen Yang</b>, on assignment for the New York Post, said that he was affected by tear gas deployed by law enforcement while documenting the protest. “The tear gas certainly was very effective at stopping me from doing my job intermittently throughout that night.”</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"25mrg\"><b>May 30, 2026</b></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"iu96\">Photojournalist <b>Neil Constantine</b>, who was on assignment for NurPhoto Agency, told the Tracker he was caught in tear gas several times and affected by the residue from pepper ball rounds being shot near him. State police also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-knocked-down-targeted-with-stun-grenade-by-state-police/\">targeted him</a> and another journalist with stun grenades and possibly tear gas as well.</li><li data-block-key=\"5vr8u\">Documentary photographer <b>Adriano Kalin</b> told the Tracker that the excessive tear gas deployed by New Jersey State Police got in his eyes and mouth. “I can’t breathe,” he said, coughing, <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DY_MZOqu5sc/\">in a video</a> he posted that day on Instagram. An officer also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentarian-fired-at-with-crowd-control-munition-during-new-jersey-protest/\">fired a flash-bang</a> grenade at him; it landed near his feet.</li><li data-block-key=\"9ag42\">Independent reporter and photojournalist <b>Wali Khan</b> told the Tracker he was subjected to extensive tear gas deployed by state police. Officers also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-targeted-with-flash-bangs-at-new-jersey-protest/\">shot at him</a> with multiple stun grenades.</li><li data-block-key=\"6mgab\"><b>Andres Kudacki</b>, a photojournalist on assignment for The Associated Press, <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZAvIhhmh6L/?img_index=1&igsh=MWZvZXpoZGkwOXRscQ%3D%3D\">posted on Instagram</a> that while covering the demonstrations, his “mask and goggles became saturated with tear gas.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-aligned_image block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n\t\n\n\n\n <img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/EdnaLeshowitz_DelaneyHallInjuries_14-14.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"552\" alt=\"COURTESY EDNA LESHOWITZ\">\n\n\n\t\n\t<figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t<p data-block-key=\"0fjlz\">Freelance photojournalist Andres Kudacki has his eyes rinsed out after his mask and goggles became saturated with tear gas while covering protests outside a detention center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 30, 2026.</p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t> — COURTESY EDNA LESHOWITZ\n\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\n\t</figcaption>\n\t\n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"5i43m\">Freelance photojournalist<b> Edna Leshowitz</b> said tear gas fired by state police repeatedly burned her eyes, despite wearing protective gear. A flash-bang grenade also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-in-head-with-flash-bang-at-new-jersey-protest/\">landed on her head</a>. “You don’t have a lot of time to recover in between, and it was one after another.”</li><li data-block-key=\"69d04\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Christian Vazquez</b> told the Tracker that he was reporting as New Jersey State Police in riot gear responded to the protest in the late evening, and the situation “went from zero to 100 real quick.” The police fired chemical irritants to disperse protesters, and even though he was standing back and wearing goggles and a KN95 mask, the gas got into his airway and he started coughing. He said he was <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DY_H0U2Nfvr/\">forced</a> to flee the scene. “They didn’t care who they were aiming at,” he said. “They didn’t give any warning to disperse. It just happened.”</li><li data-block-key=\"bn5i2\">MS NOW reporter <b>Ali Velshi and his news crew</b> were <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w21m2lZO4Kw\">reporting live</a> on the large law enforcement presence outside Delaney Hall when a Newark police officer ordered them to move back from the facility. Velshi can be heard asking how far they need to move, to which the officer responds, “You have to push out all the way back.” Velshi replies, “Unfortunately we won’t be able to cover it if we go that far back.” Seven officers then form a loose line and are later joined by others to ensure that Velshi and his crew continue to move back. “We’re not doing anything to impede law enforcement nor do we wish to,” Velshi says to the audience. “But as you can see, the police are taking removing the press from the scene very, very seriously.”</li><li data-block-key=\"89s6q\">An <b>independent photographer</b>, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Tracker that they were documenting the New Jersey State Police responding to the protest when they were hit with a chemical irritant. “In the melee, my mask came off,” the photographer said, “So I was blinded. It was terrible.” They added that the state police were firing pepper balls and flash grenades in front of the crowd, and tear gas behind them, “backing us into the tear gas.” The photographer described the scene as “like a war zone.”</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"49tsl\"><b>May 31, 2026</b></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"eniav\">Independent photojournalist <b>CS Muncy</b> <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZDr6ZyDwgh/\">wrote on Instagram</a> that his vision was affected by a chemical irritant while documenting the protest. “With the CS gas still in my eyes, I wasn’t even sure I was focusing properly,” he said, referring to a type of tear gas.</li><li data-block-key=\"2e81v\">Journalists<b> Will Allen-DuPraw, Jordan Chariton, Jon Farina, Josh Pacheco, David Snow</b> and <b>Stephen Yang</b> told the Tracker they were caught up in a police kettle, unable to leave, for roughly 10 minutes before officers announced that credentialed press had one chance to leave or face arrest. Officers arrested <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-05-31&date_upper=2026-05-31&city=newark&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">at least three journalists</a> from the kettle.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-instagram block-instagram\"><div class=\"instagram-embed\">\n\t<div>\n <blockquote\n\tclass=\"instagram-media\"\n\tdata-instgrm-permalink=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZBpBiJu-Zs/?utm_source=ig_embed\"\n\tdata-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n\t<a class=\"btn btn-secondary\" href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZBpBiJu-Zs\">View post on Instagram</a>\n</blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://www.instagram.com/embed.js\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"s0bt\"><b>Yang</b>, on assignment for the New York Post, told the Tracker that Newark police officers blocked him and other members of the press from freely covering the protest for about 20 minutes. “They held us at a distance to where we could not see what was going on,” he said. “They’ll say it’s for safety, but really what they’re doing is they’re restricting press access.” Status Coup photojournalist <b>Allen-DuPraw</b> said they were held approximately 150-200 feet back from the officers as they continued to make arrests. “By being pushed back in that way, like to such a high degree, we were hindered from continuing to actually report on what was happening and make as accurate a record as possible,” he told the Tracker. Another Status Coup photojournalist, <b>Farina</b>, told the Tracker that he, the outlet’s CEO <b>Chariton</b> and others were then ordered to move even further back. Farina asked why and, when an officer couldn’t provide a reason, Farina said he told him, “Nope, we’ll stay right here. We’re just going to keep working.” The officers were <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZDbTPFIo3o/\">told over the radio</a> to use force if necessary, but Farina warned them it would be “a big story” if they did so. The officers ultimately backed down.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"8goub\"><b>June 2, 2026</b></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"9jfgr\">Journalist <b>Jessica Formoso</b> <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok7_CXMl6FU\">reported</a> that she and her WNYW news crew were harassed and insulted by a man while reporting from outside Delaney Hall ahead of the Newark mayor’s news conference.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"6pcpt\"><b>June 5, 2026</b></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"af7pm\">Multiple members of the press — including photojournalists <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZOtSwouE1h/\"><b>Adriano Kalin</b></a> and <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZOouXmB6IB/\"><b>Wali Khan</b></a>, and a <a href=\"https://x.com/terrencemcd/status/2063082263890280563/\"><b>photojournalist for the New Jersey Monitor</b></a> — reported that the Newark police prevented them from carrying bags or wearing critical personal protective equipment within a perimeter established around Delaney Hall. “If we don’t have PPE, we can’t do our job as journalists,” Khan told the Tracker. Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the Tracker is a project, also <a href=\"https://freedom.press/issues/ppe-bans-not-only-risk-reporters-they-risk-the-publics-right-to-know/\">condemned the ban</a>. “These bans are dangerous, most importantly to journalists’ physical safety. But they also harm the public’s right to know,” wrote Senior Advocacy Adviser Caitlin Vogus. “When reporters can’t safely remain at a protest, the public loses access to independent documentation about what happened there.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-instagram block-instagram\"><div class=\"instagram-embed\">\n\t<div>\n <blockquote\n\tclass=\"instagram-media\"\n\tdata-instgrm-permalink=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZOtSwouE1h/?utm_source=ig_embed\"\n\tdata-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n\t<a class=\"btn btn-secondary\" href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZOtSwouE1h\">View post on Instagram</a>\n</blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://www.instagram.com/embed.js\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"89riv\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Ian Peters</b> told the Tracker he was affected by pepper spray fired by employees of The Geo Group, the operator of the private detention facility. “It was just spicy,” he said of the irritant, which got in his eyes and mouth.</li><li data-block-key=\"e7joh\">Videographer <b>David Snow</b> told the Tracker he was affected by pepper spray fired into the air by The Geo Group. “They were just carelessly spraying it as they were exiting the facility in their vehicles,” said Snow, who was coughing and had difficulty breathing and seeing for several minutes. Later, Newark police blocked him from reentering the protest with his camera bag and gas mask.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"b6ik\"><b>June 6, 2026</b></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"7btf2\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Tom Hudson</b> <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZRuhEJu6-o/\">reported on</a> <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DZQ5dCOjSUT/\">social media</a> that he had parked his car — clearly marked with “PRESS” in all caps on the side — in a location approved of by a police captain when he arrived at 9 a.m. that morning. Approximately 11 hours later, Hudson said, they took shelter in the car from a thunderstorm when suddenly dozens of law enforcement officers gathered around the vehicle and ordered him and Status Coup photojournalist <b>Jon Farina</b> to move their vehicles under threat of being towed or facing arrest. “They’re making it up as they go along, just like they were trying to restrict press from bringing their backpacks,” Hudson said. “They do not want cameras watching what they’re doing.”</li><li data-block-key=\"2cdfe\">Independent journalist <b>Marcos Quinones</b> told the Tracker that he was covering demonstrations when an ICE agent tried to prevent him from photographing. “I had an ICE agent literally cup my lens with his hand to stop me from taking pictures and told me to back away from him, even though I wasn’t even the closest person to him,” Quinones said. He added that his press credentials were clearly visible around his neck.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"bii5u\"><b>June 7, 2026</b></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"4hjor\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Ian Peters</b> told the Tracker that Newark police looked inside his camera bag and blocked him from carrying his gas mask into the demonstration. Officers also blocked videographer <b>David</b> <b>Snow</b> from bringing in a camera and asked to search his bag, but he told the Tracker he did not comply with the search. “They’re specifically targeting PPE, which is a defense,” Snow said, referring to personal protective equipment. Also that day, he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-pushed-down-by-officer-at-new-jersey-immigration-protest/\">shoved by a Newark police officer</a>.</li></ul></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"iktlk\">Federal agents armed with crowd-control weapons aim at protesters outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center during a demonstration on May 29, 2026, in Newark, New Jersey.</p>",
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
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},
{
"title": "Trump targets news media, punishing critical coverage of his second term",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-targets-news-media-punishing-critical-coverage-of-his-second-term/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-28T20:16:43.455000Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-28T20:32:45.927618Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-28T20:32:45.798941Z",
"date": "2026-05-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f2qh8\">President Donald Trump and his administration are continuing to take steps in his second term to punish and intimidate news outlets covering them unfavorably. We’re documenting Trump’s direct actions and public statements in this regularly updated report.</p><p data-block-key=\"9c5k2\">Trump’s social media posts denigrating the media are being catalogued separately in our ongoing project, the <a href=\"https://taps.pressfreedomtracker.us/\">Trump Anti-Press Social Media Tracker</a>. Read about Trump’s efforts in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-administration-allies-move-to-punish-outlets-during-first-weeks-in-office/\">2025</a>, and how his appointees and allies in Congress are striving to chill reporting, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/trump-allies-pursue-multipronged-campaign-against-the-press/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"b2rcv\"><i>This article was first published on May 28, 2026.</i></p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-raw_html block-raw_html\"><p><a id=\"top\" name=\"top\"></a></p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f2qh8\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"esvrn\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-raw_html block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#May 15\">May 15, 2026 | Trump calls journalists’ reporting on Iran war ‘treasonous’</a>\r\n<p><a href=\"#April 6\">April 6, 2026 | Trump says news outlet must identify source or ‘go to jail’</a></p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f2qh8\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"3vd46\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-raw_html block-raw_html\"><a id=\"May 15\" name=\"May 15\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"f2qh8\">May 15, 2026 | Trump calls journalists’ reporting on Iran war ‘treasonous’</h4><p data-block-key=\"bkhgk\">President Donald Trump accused David Sanger — a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times — and others of treason for their coverage of the Iran war during a press gaggle on Air Force One on May 15, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"9nu97\">Trump, who was returning from a series of meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, held an informal press gaggle on the plane. In <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d33H5BImAI8\">footage</a> posted by Forbes, Sanger is heard asking the president what could be gained by resuming a bombing campaign against Iran.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ptbo\">“I had a total military victory. But the fake news, guys like you, write it incorrectly. You’re a fake guy and guys like you write about it incorrectly,” Trump responds. “We’ve had a total victory except by people like you that don’t write the truth. You know, you should write … I actually think it’s sort of treasonous what you write. But you and The New York Times and CNN, I would say, are the worst.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9j8sf\">As another journalist begins to ask a question, Trump turns back to Sanger, addressing him as David, and says that the reporter just writes what his editors tell him to, that he should be ashamed and that the reporting amounts to treason.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-video block-video\">\n\n<figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n <div style=\"padding-bottom: 56.49999999999999%;\" class=\"responsive-object\">\n <iframe width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/d33H5BImAI8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen title=\"Trump Accuses Reporters To Their Faces Of 'Treason' For Their Coverage Of The Iran War\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f2qh8\">Sanger defended his reporting and the importance of the new media generally during an <a href=\"https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/2055460965500567761\">appearance on CNN</a> later that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"9hqvk\">“We all know what this is about: It’s an effort to intimidate news organizations into not doing the reporting,” Sanger told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “The president seems to conflate news he doesn’t want to hear with treason, and that’s not the case.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7json\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/NYTimesPR/status/2055372950035939766\">statement</a> posted to social media, Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander defended the newspaper’s coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"9hjeg\">“Reporting isn’t treason. It’s foundational to a free press and the work that America’s founders wrote the First Amendment to protect,” he said. “That includes making clear when the claims of government officials and the reality of their actions don’t line up.”</p><p data-block-key=\"19equ\">The incident came just days after The Wall Street Journal <a href=\"https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/trumps-complaints-about-iran-war-leaks-prompt-aggressive-doj-investigations-b5d31c13\">reported</a> that Trump had complained in April to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about leaks concerning the Iran war, and in one meeting passed a stack of news articles to Blanche with a sticky note that read “treason.”</p><p data-block-key=\"demg2\">The newspaper also revealed that it and other news outlets were <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/doj-subpoenas-wall-street-journal-amid-internal-leak-investigation/\">issued subpoenas</a> earlier this year as part of ongoing leak investigations, and that Blanche had vowed to secure such legal orders for the records of journalists working on sensitive national security stories.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-raw_html block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"April 6\" name=\"April 6\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"f2qh8\">April 6, 2026 | Trump says news outlet must identify source or ‘go to jail’</h4><p data-block-key=\"djlil\">President Donald Trump vowed to investigate the source behind a leak concerning the downing of a U.S. fighter jet by Iran during a news conference on April 6, 2026, adding that he would not hesitate to take action against the media outlet that published the information.</p><p data-block-key=\"8vu4e\">The F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over Iran April 3, and while the pilot was quickly rescued, the weapons systems officer could not be immediately located, triggering a frantic two-day search to find him before Iranian forces did. The incidents were covered by <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/us/politics/us-fighter-jet-iran.html\">multiple</a> <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/04/03/f-15-crash-iran-missing/\">national</a> <a href=\"https://www.axios.com/2026/04/03/iran-us-fighter-shot-down\">and</a> <a href=\"https://x.com/N12News/status/2040123744799141937\">international</a> <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-fighter-jet-shot-down-over-iran-search-underway-crew-us-official-says-2026-04-03/\">newsrooms</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"5e3cg\">Trump asserted that news reporting on the incident endangered the airman and others, and that the administration would approach the unnamed outlet that had published it as part of ongoing efforts to identify the leaker, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/06/business/media/trump-jail-journalists-fighter-crew.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"1bobr\">“We’re going to go to the media company that released it,” Trump said, “and we’re going to say, ‘National security — give it up or go to jail.’ And we know who, and you know who, we’re talking about.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9fmu3\">The White House did not clarify which news outlet the president was referring to, the Times reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"b91j6\">Gabe Rottman, vice president of policy at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told the Times he was not aware of another instance of a president issuing such a threat.</p><p data-block-key=\"fll13\">“During times of armed conflict in a democracy,” Rottman said in a statement, “it is essential that the press be able to gather and report information in the public interest and thus provide an independent check on the official government narrative.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-raw_html block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-05-21T164319Z_798006995_RC2S.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cmvxh\">President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement at the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"CNN",
"Media",
"The New York Times"
],
"tags": [
"Donald Trump"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"David Sanger (The New York Times)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Student journalist faced discipline after questioning college officials",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-faced-discipline-after-questioning-college-officials/",
"first_published_at": "2026-07-10T18:22:35.831847Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-07-10T18:22:35.831847Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-07-10T18:22:13.728944Z",
"date": "2026-05-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Long Beach",
"longitude": -118.18923,
"latitude": 33.76696,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"c2bga\">Student journalist Paloma Maciel faced sanctions on May 11, 2026, after Long Beach City College accused her of harassment while she was reporting on a controversial student election at the California school.</p><p data-block-key=\"234uv\">Maciel, co-editor-in-chief of student newspaper The Viking News, <a href=\"https://lbccviking.com/?p=23464\">reported</a> that the student government election would be rerun after concerns emerged that ineligible people, including nonactive students, may have been allowed to vote.</p><p data-block-key=\"66p56\">On May 8, Maciel interviewed the dean of students about the topic. In the same building, she tried to talk to the student activities adviser, who declined to comment, <a href=\"https://lbpost.com/news/education/lbcc-student-journalist-questions-threatened-discipline\">she told the Long Beach Post</a>. Maciel waited outside the adviser’s office until the dean told her the office was busy and later said it was closed; she then left.</p><p data-block-key=\"27p6\">Three days later, the college’s Office of Student Conduct notified Maciel that a complaint had been filed against her, <a href=\"https://lbccviking.com/?p=23611\">The Viking News reported</a>. The notice alleged that she had “engaged in persistent and increasingly harassing and aggressive behavior under the pretense of requesting interviews.” It also claimed she had “physically blocked” an administrator’s path, causing the employee to seek shelter in another office. Maciel, whose upcoming graduation was approaching, faced suspension or academic probation.</p><p data-block-key=\"dlmht\">“I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” Maciel told the Long Beach Post. “In my eyes, I was just reporting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d6p1u\">Maciel attended a disciplinary hearing on June 2 with the college’s executive vice president of student services, where she answered questions and gave her account of the incident. The following day, the college informed her that she had not violated the student code of conduct and that no disciplinary action would be taken.</p><p data-block-key=\"er400\">Carl Kemp, a spokesperson for Long Beach City College, declined to comment on the confidential student conduct investigation in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He asserted that reporting and writing in the newspaper is not a violation of campus policies.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qp3d\">Maciel could not be reached for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-07-09_at_3.33.52P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"l1tag\">Long Beach City College’s student newspaper, The Viking News, reported that its co-editor-in-chief, Paloma Maciel, faced discipline by the California school on May 11, 2026, after her reporting.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"case_number": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Paloma Maciel ([Long Beach City College] The Viking News )"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Utah politician knocks phone from reporter’s hand amid data center controversy",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/utah-politician-knocks-phone-from-reporters-hand-amid-data-center-controversy/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-12T17:10:10.562545Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-12T17:10:10.562545Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-12T17:10:10.470926Z",
"date": "2026-05-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Layton",
"longitude": -111.97105,
"latitude": 41.06022,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5gvd6\">State Sen. Jerry Stevenson smacked KTVX/KUCW reporter Bayan Wang’s phone out of his hand as Wang was working on a story related to a data center project in Layton, Utah, on May 6, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"69kt1\">The <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/09/tech/ai-data-center-utah-kevin-oleary-opposition\">artificial intelligence data center development</a> was approved by Utah’s Box Elder County Commission on May 4. Stevenson, a Republican, sits on the board of Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority, which was created by the legislature to develop land to support defense-related infrastructure and which backed the data center project, KTVX <a href=\"https://www.abc4.com/news/digital-exclusives/reporter-jj-nursery-utah-senator-jerry-stevenson-box-elder-county-data-center/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"1n9ou\">Opponents of the project <a href=\"https://www.abc4.com/news/northern-utah/community-reacts-data-center-box-elder/\">expressed</a> concern about the potential environmental impact and apparent lack of consultation with the local community. A social media post called for a boycott of J&J Nursery and Garden Center in Layton, a business co-founded by Stevenson, and some employees told KTVX that they had been harassed.</p><p data-block-key=\"6q6ui\">Wang, who said he was informed by a Utah Senate staff member that Stevenson was not available for comment on the story, went to J&J Nursery on May 6 seeking to speak to employees about the alleged harassment, according to a <a href=\"https://www.abc4.com/news/digital-exclusives/reporter-jj-nursery-utah-senator-jerry-stevenson-box-elder-county-data-center/\">report</a> published by the station.</p><p data-block-key=\"981r4\">“While Wang was in his vehicle in the nursery’s parking lot, he noticed a man screaming at his photographer, who was outside his news vehicle without a camera in hand,” KTVX reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"crrhi\">The reporter then approached the two individuals to find out what was happening, and tried to tell the senator that he had been in touch with staff at the nursery. Wang said Stevenson, who was wearing a Utah Senate jacket, refused to identify himself as a Utah state senator when asked.</p><p data-block-key=\"87h9t\">The reporter said he told Stevenson about the story they were working on, then took out his cellphone and started recording.</p><p data-block-key=\"8l95k\">In a video of the encounter posted by the station, Stevenson is shown asking Wang to leave, saying, “Just get your butt out of here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3d5nd\">“Why are you being hostile to us?” Wang asked.</p><p data-block-key=\"12inb\">“Because I am tired of you,” Stevenson replied as he walked toward the reporter. He then swung his hand toward Wang, hitting the reporter’s hand and phone. Wang said his phone was knocked out of his hand onto the cement parking lot.</p><p data-block-key=\"3i5g4\">After the incident, Layton police arrived, saying they had been called by a witness reporting possible disorderly conduct by three individuals, according to KTVX. Wang showed the officer the video of the encounter.</p><p data-block-key=\"b674v\">Wang also confirmed to the officer that his phone had been damaged when it fell to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"8e5oe\">Shortly after, according to Wang, officers told him that Stevenson apologized for the incident, but still did not wish to speak with them.</p><p data-block-key=\"fqq1p\">The police also issued the KTVX crew a trespassing notice for J&J Nursery, which is private property. The Salt Lake Tribune, citing an interview with a Layton police officer, <a href=\"https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2026/05/08/police-investigating-confrontation/\">reported</a> that Stevenson had asked law enforcement to issue the notice, which is not a charge or a citation, “but a warning that if they return, they could face criminal charges.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6trb6\">Nancy Bauer, news director for KTVX/KUCW, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the news crew did not go to J&J Nursery with the intention of interviewing Stevenson, adding, “What you see on video was an unplanned encounter after Stevenson approached our team in the parking lot.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dl729\">She said the station “accepts the senator’s apology and intends to respect the trespassing warning issued at that time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8u81l\">She added, “Bayan Wang is declining to press charges against the senator at this time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e27t6\">Stevenson did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-05-08_at_4.31.43P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vypv0\">Utah state Sen. Jerry Stevenson confronts KTVX/KUCW reporter Bayan Wang on May 6, 2026, outside a business Stevenson owns in Layton, Utah. Moments later, the lawmaker knocked to the ground the phone Wang was using to film the interaction.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"actor": "politician",
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"assailant": "politician",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Utah",
"abbreviation": "UT"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Bayan Wang (KTVX/KUCW)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Journalist held in NYPD kettle while covering protest near synagogue",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-held-in-nypd-kettle-while-covering-protest-near-synagogue/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-21T18:55:51.921423Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-21T18:55:51.921423Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-21T18:55:51.819268Z",
"date": "2026-05-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"d6tsp\">Multimedia journalist A.B. Youssef was held in a police kettle while covering a protest in New York, New York, on May 5, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"ek1u\">The <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/nyregion/nyc-synagogue-protests-israel-real-estate.html\">protest</a> was taking place near a synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side that was holding an event to promote real estate sales in Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the latter of which are widely believed to <a href=\"https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/01/chapter-3-israeli-settlements-and-international-law/\">violate</a> international law.</p><p data-block-key=\"9qgb9\">The New York City Police Department formed a buffer zone around the synagogue, prohibiting access to the block it was located on and directing pro-Palestinian and a smaller group of pro-Israel protesters, as well as press, onto surrounding avenues, according to <a href=\"https://www.amny.com/news/protest-synagogue-manhattan-nypd-strategy/\">news reports</a> and journalists who spoke to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"v65h\">Youssef told the Tracker that he and other journalists were documenting NYPD officers blocking off a sidewalk with metal barricades and pushing protesters back. The officers then formed a circle around the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-05-05&date_upper=2026-05-05&state=New+York&tags=kettle\">group of press</a> with the barricades and told them they couldn’t leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"ddn52\">“I was telling them, ‘You can’t lock us in here,’” he said. “And they just didn’t care.” He said he was wearing his New York City press credential and holding his camera gear, adding that many of the officers saw him often and knew who he was.</p><p data-block-key=\"bequ2\">Video posted on social media by two other journalists who were in the kettle, <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/taliajane.bsky.social/post/3ml5hzfbnu22d\">Talia Ben-Ora</a> and <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYAQhgfuqy4/\">Neil Constantine</a>, shows uniformed police and plainclothes public information officers placing metal barricades around a group of press, separating them from the area where the NYPD was pushing protesters back.</p><p data-block-key=\"4t1i7\">Youssef said the NYPD didn’t explain why they were penning them in, and gave conflicting instructions.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3nuj\">“They were saying, ‘Go out that way.’ And I said, ‘Where? That way is blocked too.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"do160\">He said he was kept in that area for at least 10 minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"an0u8\">The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-05-21_at_1.14.40P.fe45215e.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"wh2vk\">Officers set up metal barricades around a group of press covering a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on May 5, 2026. Journalists A.B. Youssef and Talia Ben-Ora were among those stuck in the kettle, and Ben-Ora captured video of the incident.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-05-05",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"A.B. Youssef (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist kettled while covering protest near NYC synagogue",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-kettled-while-covering-protest-near-nyc-synagogue/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-15T20:07:38.561193Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-15T20:07:38.561193Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-15T20:07:38.465257Z",
"date": "2026-05-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qtf6q\">Independent journalist Talia Ben-Ora was penned in a police kettle while covering a protest in New York, New York, on May 5, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ci7e\">The <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/nyregion/nyc-synagogue-protests-israel-real-estate.html\">protest</a> was taking place near a synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side that was holding an event to promote real estate sales in Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the latter of which are widely believed to <a href=\"https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/01/chapter-3-israeli-settlements-and-international-law/\">violate</a> international law.</p><p data-block-key=\"2gv9f\">The New York City Police Department formed a buffer zone around the synagogue, prohibiting access to the block it was located on and directing pro-Palestinian and a smaller group of pro-Israel protesters, as well as press, onto surrounding avenues, according to <a href=\"https://www.amny.com/news/protest-synagogue-manhattan-nypd-strategy/\">news reports</a> and journalists who spoke to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"99g3s\">Ben-Ora told the Tracker that at one point, NYPD officers suddenly barricaded a sidewalk on nearby Third Avenue, pushing metal barricades into protesters and using chemical irritants to prevent them from accessing an area that had previously been open.</p><p data-block-key=\"431mq\">Members of the press were standing behind the officers, documenting the police actions. Then, “NYPD flooded that space and closed us in, not allowing press to move away, resulting in a strange press-only kettle,” Ben-Ora said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebdpe\">In a video Ben-Ora posted on Bluesky, uniformed police and plainclothes public information officers can be seen telling press to back up from the protest, then surrounding them with metal barricades, penning them in.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-bluesky block-bluesky\"><div class=\"bluesky-embed-container\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at://did:plc:lt7eqlk3l7u5pncvfgmcfjem/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml5hzfbnu22d\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreicittxmahpdt7e2kdk2ils3abwfsx5zijskbeccffcjbjq4ckio5y\"><p lang=\"en\">Situation deteriorated as protest marched from Lex/68 back to their original protest location. Press kettled as NYPD pushed in on protestors, other press. We are now stuck beside the SRG line. Unclear if any arrests.</p>— <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lt7eqlk3l7u5pncvfgmcfjem?ref_src=embed\">talia jane (@taliajane.bsky.social)</a> <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lt7eqlk3l7u5pncvfgmcfjem/post/3ml5hzfbnu22d?ref_src=embed\">2026-05-06T00:46:31.945Z</a></blockquote><script async src=\"https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qtf6q\">“They prevented us from leaving by not moving from in front of where the barricades were up against the wall, ignoring us, as other cops were pushing into the crowd,” Ben-Ora said, adding, “I didn’t get the sense that we would be arrested, just that they were freezing our movement in any direction, including away from where they were fighting protesters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aa49o\">Ben-Ora said that members of the press were allowed to leave the kettle after a few minutes, but were “still separated by a police line and barricades from the protest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e5fqi\">The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Officers_push_back_pro-Palestinia.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"phuno\">Officers push back pro-Palestinian protesters in New York City on May 5, 2026. The footage was taken by independent journalist Talia Ben-Ora moments before police penned a group of press inside metal barricades.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-05-05",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Talia (Jane) Ben-Ora (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist kettled while covering protest near NYC synagogue",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-kettled-while-covering-protest-near-nyc-synagogue/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-19T18:59:10.463644Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-19T18:59:10.463644Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-19T18:59:10.355317Z",
"date": "2026-05-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tn8l8\">Photojournalist Neil Constantine was held in a police kettle while covering a protest in New York, New York, on May 5, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"d1op9\">The <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/nyregion/nyc-synagogue-protests-israel-real-estate.html\">protest</a> was taking place near a synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side that was holding an event to promote real estate sales in Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the latter of which are widely believed to <a href=\"https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/01/chapter-3-israeli-settlements-and-international-law/\">violate</a> international law.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ft8l\">The New York City Police Department formed a buffer zone around the synagogue, prohibiting access to the block it was located on and directing pro-Palestinian and a smaller group of pro-Israel protesters, as well as press, onto surrounding avenues, according to <a href=\"https://www.amny.com/news/protest-synagogue-manhattan-nypd-strategy/\">news reports</a> and journalists who spoke to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"echgp\">Constantine, who was freelancing for NurPhoto Agency and whose New York City press credential was clearly visible, told the Tracker that at one point, NYPD officers suddenly barricaded a sidewalk on nearby Third Avenue. The officers pushed metal barricades into protesters to prevent them from accessing an area that had previously been open.</p><p data-block-key=\"cj2j9\">Members of the press were standing behind the officers, documenting the police actions. In a video Constantine posted on Instagram, uniformed police and plainclothes public information officers can be seen placing metal barricades around <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-05-05&date_upper=2026-05-05&state=New+York&tags=kettle\">a group of press</a>, separating them from the area where the NYPD was pushing protesters back.</p><p data-block-key=\"13vpv\">In the video, Constantine can be heard saying, “This is kettling,” and “We are being blocked in here right now.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-instagram block-instagram\"><div class=\"instagram-embed\">\n\t<div>\n <blockquote\n\tclass=\"instagram-media\"\n\tdata-instgrm-permalink=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DYAQhgfuqy4/?utm_source=ig_embed\"\n\tdata-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n\t<a class=\"btn btn-secondary\" href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DYAQhgfuqy4\">View post on Instagram</a>\n</blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://www.instagram.com/embed.js\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tn8l8\">Constantine told the Tracker that when journalists asked to leave the area, they were either told that they couldn’t, or were given conflicting instructions about where to go by officers who were within a few feet of one another. In addition, the officers wouldn’t answer their questions about why they were keeping them there.</p><p data-block-key=\"103kb\">He said they were kept in the kettle for around 15 minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"90qf3\">The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Officers_use_metal_barricades_to_.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"npdwp\">Officers use metal barricades to surround a group of press covering a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on May 5, 2026. Photojournalist Neil Constantine was among those stuck in the kettle, and captured video of the incident.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-05-05",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
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"actor": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Neil Constantine (NurPhoto Agency [Italy])"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist arrested at LA protest after being prodded with police batons",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-at-la-protest-after-being-prodded-with-police-batons/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-05T18:13:27.499366Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-06-18T15:41:48.723233Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-06-18T15:41:48.593101Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"encyi\">Independent photojournalist Nick Stern was arrested and jabbed with police batons while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"api20\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"60q4q\">Stern told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the LA Police Department moved in to clear the area outside the adjacent City Hall, pushing the crowd back with batons before issuing a dispersal order that they said applied to everyone in the area, including the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"8vkln\">Some journalists left, but not Stern. “I felt it was important to stay and document what was going on,” he said, citing the California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-5/\">law that exempts</a> journalists from dispersal orders and protects them from arrest or interference by police, including use of force. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"asav7\">Stern, who was wearing credentials and a shirt identifying himself as press, said that, without warning, officers kettled a group that included mostly journalists, sealing them inside a tightened perimeter.</p><p data-block-key=\"49ovu\">Stern, fearing he would be arrested, asked multiple times to leave but was blocked. At least two officers pushed him in the chest with batons, and one tried to swing at him. After Stern blocked the blow with his hand, a senior officer ordered Stern to turn around and put his hands behind his back.</p><p data-block-key=\"9pjf0\">In a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/melbuer.bsky.social/post/3mkto4245u22r\">video posted to Bluesky</a>, Stern backed away from officers, spoke to them briefly, then began to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"ckoib\">“Turn around,” an officer said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6m3rs\">“Why are you telling me to turn around now?” Stern responded.</p><p data-block-key=\"8i6kp\">“You’re under arrest,” another officer replies before grabbing him, twisting his arms behind his back and placing his wrists in zip ties.</p><p data-block-key=\"9psvi\">“It seemed like a selected arrest,” Stern told the Tracker, adding that all other journalists were eventually allowed to leave the kettle. Officers first told Stern he was being arrested for assault on a police officer, then later said it was for failure to disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"79aj0\">Stern’s right zip tie was tightened to the point of throbbing pain and numbness. He said officers loosened it after about 10 minutes, only after he shouted for them to. Red marks were still visible on his wrist two days later.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-aligned_image block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n\t\n\n\n\n <img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/PFT_header_images_3.width-828.png\" width=\"828\" height=\"465\" alt=\"COURTESY NICK STERN\">\n\n\n\t\n\t<figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t<p data-block-key=\"i5b7i\">Photographer Nick Stern’s wrist about two hours after he was handcuffed by police while covering a protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t> — COURTESY NICK STERN\n\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\n\t</figcaption>\n\t\n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"encyi\">Stern was taken to jail, where he was held for two hours. He was the last of about a dozen people to be processed before being released without charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"87gqk\">“It was just a process of intimidation,” Stern said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6fl6f\">Stern, whose work has appeared in The Guardian, CNN and The New York Times, among others, is working on a documentary about protests in LA and has been involved in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Nick%20Stern\">seven cases</a> documented by the Tracker in the city. In one, the city paid him a $150,000 settlement over his treatment by law enforcement while covering <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-multiple-projectiles-while-covering-la-protest/\">a 2020 protest</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"lgj6\">In April, he addressed the LAPD’s board of commissioners, <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DXaCxKekosZ/\">asking</a>: “What do I have to do … so I don’t get brutalized by LAPD?”</p><p data-block-key=\"6v7ak\">The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/2050246004851773599\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"66ci7\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">nearly two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"41p9n\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/5-1-2026_May_Day_COHEN-19.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0mxuw\">Photojournalist Nick Stern, at center, is arrested while documenting a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-05-01",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Nick Stern (Independent)"
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},
{
"title": "Student photojournalist pushed by police, thrown by CBP agent at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-pushed-by-police-thrown-by-cbp-agent-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-06T21:40:39.301558Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-08T16:50:23.559230Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-08T16:50:23.442888Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"16dsu\">Ethan Cohen, a student photojournalist for California State University’s Long Beach Current, was shoved by police and flung backward by a federal officer while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"a2vfc\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"n4ku\">Outside the adjacent City Hall, officers with the LA Police Department formed a skirmish line and pushed Cohen, along with other journalists and protesters, down the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"bv6b3\">“I told him, ‘Hey, I can’t move back,’” Cohen said of the officer pushing him. “He seemed to be understanding at that point.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3vse2\">As the crowd thinned outside the detention center, federal officers made targeted arrests. During one arrest, Cohen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, he crouched down to photograph the scene. Nearby, Customs and Border Protection agents grabbed photojournalist <a href=\"/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-knocked-backward-by-cbp-agent-at-la-protest/\">Blake Fagan</a> and threw him backward.</p><p data-block-key=\"4m047\">“Then they picked me up and threw me back,” said Cohen, adding that he stumbled several steps before regaining his balance. “I was yelling at the officer, ‘What are you doing?’”</p><p data-block-key=\"a9g41\">Cohen, who wore media credentials, and a vest and helmet labeling him as press, said he doesn’t know if the agent targeted him because he was a journalist or because the agent wanted to get through and create a perimeter for the arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"1udop\">“There were other press that were told verbally to get back, rather than physically picked up and thrown,” Cohen said. “Had they asked me to move back, I would have complied, but I wasn’t given any option.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2sgjv\">The encounter interrupted Cohen’s ability to photograph the arrest; he said he removed himself from the situation and began documenting the protest in another area.</p><p data-block-key=\"dold3\">DHS did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the LAPD. In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1416003060571476&set=a.221666803338447\">statement</a> posted on May 1, the department wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d483h\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">nearly two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"681eo\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Solis_Luke_EthanCohenAssault_0501.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qqvdu\">Photojournalist Ethan Cohen, in press helmet at center right, is thrust backward by a Customs and Border Protection officer while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ethan Cohen ([California State University] Long Beach Current)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photographer detained while covering ‘May Day Strong’ rally in LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-detained-while-covering-may-day-strong-rally-in-la/",
"first_published_at": "2026-06-18T16:35:36.009573Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-06-18T16:35:36.009573Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-06-18T16:35:35.885731Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"b1cgy\">Independent photographer Steven Berumen was detained by police while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"cd48d\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"42gik\">Berumen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that during that evening, LA Police Department officers kettled a group of mostly press, sealing them inside a tightened perimeter. Berumen said he was photographing at the time and suddenly noticed he was surrounded by police. </p><p data-block-key=\"2m0od\">According to Berumen, officers told those inside the kettle that anyone who tried to leave — including press — would be arrested. Berumen did not have a press credential but was wearing a blue press vest and carrying his camera equipment. </p><p data-block-key=\"2v0te\">“It was kind of terrifying, honestly,” Berumen said. “I was worried about my camera; I was worried about my gear.” </p><p data-block-key=\"gand\">At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-05-01&date_upper=2026-05-01&city=Los+Angeles&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">six other journalists</a> were either detained or arrested in the kettle. Berumen was ultimately released after about 20 minutes, once officers collected several journalists’ names and information. </p><p data-block-key=\"144ca\">The LAPD did not return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/2050246004851773599\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6scfm\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">more than two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"4d4eh\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/IMG_0084.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"rsgit\">Police officers kettle a group of mostly press, including photographer Steven Berumen, during a workers’ rights and immigration protest on May 1, 2026, in Los Angeles, California.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-05-01",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Steven Berumen (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Student photojournalist knocked backward by CBP agent at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-knocked-backward-by-cbp-agent-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-07T17:48:56.298659Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-07T18:08:06.137502Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-07T18:08:06.052004Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e6w5c\">Student photojournalist Blake Fagan was pushed and thrown backward by federal agents while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"d6ni6\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"98jtd\">Fagan was documenting the protest for California State University, Northridge’s multimedia outlet, the Daily Sundial, when he followed the demonstrators to the detention center.</p><p data-block-key=\"ee63\">At one point, a person attending the protest <a href=\"/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-threatened-by-individual-at-la-protest/\">shoved him</a> and tried to pull off his press badge, Fagan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He was also pushed by a Department of Homeland Security officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ocp2\">Later, federal agents began making targeted arrests. As officers moved to arrest a demonstrator, Fagan approached the perimeter of the scene and crouched to take a photo. Suddenly, he felt a tug on the back of his vest from behind.</p><p data-block-key=\"f44lr\">“This guy just yanked me and threw me back,” said Fagan, who wasn’t able to capture the shot. “They didn’t give any verbal warning. They just did it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3dnls\">Fagan landed on his back, scraping his elbow. He said the officer who threw him was a Customs and Border Protection agent holding a shield. Seconds later, another student photojournalist, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-pushed-by-police-thrown-by-cbp-agent-at-la-protest/\">Ethan Cohen</a>, was also flung backward.</p><p data-block-key=\"22vl\">Fagan, who was wearing press credentials, and a vest and helmet labeling him as press, said he considered the encounter targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ma0q\">“This happens especially in LA on a pretty frequent basis, whether it’s targeted or not,” he said. “The use of force is alarming to see.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5dt4b\">DHS did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/DHS_Agent_pushes_me_as_a_credenti.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qb1t9\">A Department of Homeland Security officer is seen pushing photojournalist Blake Fagan as he covers a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Blake Fagan ([California State University, Northridge] Daily Sundial)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter detained in police kettle at May Day protest in LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-detained-in-police-kettle-at-may-day-protest-in-la/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-11T21:20:47.998275Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-06-18T15:42:07.239475Z",
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"date": "2026-05-01",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
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"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"og0qx\">L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray was detained by police while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"29vvu\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"9f7hd\">Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that LA Police Department officers had already formed a skirmish line by the time he arrived at the detention center, where officers on motorcycles started ordering people onto the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"636pl\">One of the officers <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-ticketed-jabbed-with-police-baton-at-la-protest/\">grabbed and arrested Ray</a>, ultimately issuing the journalist a citation for being in the roadway before releasing him.</p><p data-block-key=\"dig72\">Later, LAPD officers kettled a group of mostly press, sealing them inside a tightened perimeter.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-bluesky block-bluesky\"><div class=\"bluesky-embed-container\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at://did:plc:yielkdq7cgwjv2fgr6lsfoch/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkvcoisups2o\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreia25mhpzmldu5a4zxd7mvt7sjdr5bckypk5ssmgt3uwur2qjgmpoe\"><p lang=\"en\">Yesterday, LAPD officer Cisneros Escoto jabbed me in my chest w/ her baton when I calmly asked for her serial number. I was asking for her serial number because a few moments earlier she shoved me with her baton while I filmed an arrest. This happened while LAPD kettled mostly press.</p>— <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:yielkdq7cgwjv2fgr6lsfoch?ref_src=embed\">Shot On 35mm (@shoton35mm.bsky.social)</a> <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:yielkdq7cgwjv2fgr6lsfoch/post/3mkvcoisups2o?ref_src=embed\">2026-05-02T18:49:39.940Z</a></blockquote><script async src=\"https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"og0qx\">“We basically had nowhere to go, and we were surrounded by cops,” Ray said. “It was mostly just press at the end of the protest, very few protesters, so we should have never been kettled in the first place.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8lrh9\">Ray remained inside the kettle for about 15 minutes before being released and moved to a media staging area on the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"bmtf8\">“After I left, a journalist was arrested. I was able to document them taking him to a van or something to process them,” Ray said, referring to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-at-la-protest-after-being-prodded-with-police-batons/\">photojournalist Nick Stern</a>. “But I wasn’t there when he was actually being arrested, and I would have liked to be, and it wasn’t the most ideal spot to be.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dbu4k\">Ray has been involved in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Lexis-Olivier%20Ray\">16 incidents</a> in LA documented by the Tracker, half of which took place in the past year. He said what happened May 1 was “one of the most egregious examples” of how police have treated the press at demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"f6mbk\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-5/\">law exempts</a> journalists from dispersal orders and protects them from arrest or interference by police, including use of force. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"cjtn4\">Weston Rowland, an attorney representing the Los Angeles Press Club who was arrested alongside Stern, told the Tracker that the police response that day showed a blatant disregard for these legal protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"1n1qt\">“I don’t know what it’s going to take for them to understand that the freedom of the press is well protected under our constitution,” Rowland said. “In 2025 and 2026, it seems like they’re doing things that are specifically targeting the press. That’s stepping back, not forward.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1mqh8\">The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/2050246004851773599\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4d7lt\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">more than two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"8iaqd\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"3cys4\">An officer stands with baton at the ready as police formed a kettle around press and protesters in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026. L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray was detained for about 15 minutes before being released without charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
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{
"title": "Photographer detained at LA immigration, workers’ rights protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-detained-at-la-immigration-workers-rights-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-06-18T16:41:19.350351Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kb2hg\">Independent photographer Angel Perez was detained by police while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"117hq\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"buko4\">Perez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that during that evening, he was documenting demonstrators outside the detention center when LA Police Department officers ordered people to leave the area, and quickly surrounded, or kettled, a group of mostly journalists, as well as protesters and bystanders. </p><p data-block-key=\"a8r4s\">As people tried to comply with the dispersal order, officers advanced on the group and prevented them from leaving. Perez was not carrying his press credential, but was wearing his professional camera equipment. He added that several other journalists inside the kettle who were wearing credentials were also prevented from leaving. </p><p data-block-key=\"3up8v\">“We were telling them we were press, and we should be let go,” Perez said. “They had said, ‘If you stay in the kettle, and you proceed to still document what’s going on, we are going to arrest you.’” </p><p data-block-key=\"2i4mr\">Perez was detained for more than a half hour, when officers eventually released him and other members of the press individually, without explaining why they were detained in the first place. At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-05-01&date_upper=2026-05-01&city=Los+Angeles&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">six other journalists</a> were either detained or arrested in the kettle. </p><p data-block-key=\"83all\">The LAPD did not return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/2050246004851773599\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4qba2\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">more than two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3mho\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"raudg\">Photographer Angel Perez, at left, detained in a kettle with other members of the press during a workers’ rights and immigration protest on May 1, 2026, in Los Angeles, California.</p>",
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{
"title": "Reporter detained in LAPD kettle amid May Day protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-detained-in-lapd-kettle-amid-may-day-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-11T22:00:36.004996Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-06-18T15:42:30.037382Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-06-18T15:42:29.913428Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
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"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9f3e6\">Status Coup reporter Tina-Desiree Berg was detained by police while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"bu5af\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dkk8r\">Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the Los Angeles Police Department responded aggressively to demonstrations that day from the beginning.</p><p data-block-key=\"9gs57\">“The thing hadn’t really even gotten started yet, and 20 LAPD cars with their sirens blaring come down the street, they jump out of their vehicles with their batons and start forming a skirmish line,” Berg said. “They hadn’t even done their speeches yet. They never even marched.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fnc1n\">When some protesters made their way to the Metropolitan Detention Center, where detained immigrants are being held, Berg said she followed, hoping to film as another march came in from the city’s Boyle Heights neighborhood.</p><p data-block-key=\"4klv7\">Dozens of motorcycle officers arrived at the scene about an hour later and began ordering everyone back on the sidewalk. Suddenly, an officer walked directly to L.A. Taco reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-ticketed-jabbed-with-police-baton-at-la-protest/\">Lexis-Olivier Ray</a> and arrested him, Berg told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"668pd\">Berg said she confronted the officers, telling one that Ray had not been blocking traffic and explaining the protections afforded journalists as they cover demonstrations and other breaking news.</p><p data-block-key=\"cu8aj\">“You know what he said to me? He’s like, ‘You are not a member of the LA Press Club. You’re a professional agitator.’ And then he turned around and walked away,” Berg told the Tracker, noting that she was visibly wearing her LA Press Club credentials at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"eq5pr\">Ray was ultimately released after being issued a citation for being in the roadway.</p><p data-block-key=\"a1gnl\">As the evening progressed, Berg and Ray found themselves among other members of the press, legal observers and protesters in a kettle, surrounded by police.</p><p data-block-key=\"2kb59\">“They told me, ‘You’re under arrest. Sit on the curb and put your hands in the air.’ And I’m like, ‘The fuck? Yeah, that’s not happening,’” she recounted. “I said, ‘Where’s your PIO? Here are my press credentials. I’m a member of the press, you can’t arrest me.’</p><p data-block-key=\"djj6k\">“And he’s like, ‘Yes I can. Get on the curb and put your hands in the air.’”</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-bluesky block-bluesky\"><div class=\"bluesky-embed-container\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at://did:plc:ru2uiz2ifeei5nqpssfy7iqq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml2hrbds3c2z\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreifocdfindbqql2whe65wcbaqfzwyoypeevna2mnjjnlxenp74eysu\"><p lang=\"en\">From inside the arrest kettle. None of these officers have been trained properly on 409.7.</p>— <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ru2uiz2ifeei5nqpssfy7iqq?ref_src=embed\">Tina-Desiree Berg (@tinadesireeberg.com)</a> <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ru2uiz2ifeei5nqpssfy7iqq/post/3ml2hrbds3c2z?ref_src=embed\">2026-05-04T20:04:00.170Z</a></blockquote><script async src=\"https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9f3e6\">Berg told the Tracker that she was released after more than 30 minutes without charges, but that the experience was enraging.</p><p data-block-key=\"685u7\">“I just feel like I’ve been pushed to the end of my rope. The police consistently are doing this stuff and it’s unnecessary,” she said. “I’m really tired of them saying that we’re interfering in their operations when we are clearly not. We’re just filming, and we’re allowed to do that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6vbff\">Weston Rowland, an attorney representing the Los Angeles Press Club who was arrested alongside reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-at-la-protest-after-being-prodded-with-police-batons/\">Nick Stern</a> at the protest, told the Tracker that the police response that day showed a blatant disregard for the legal protections afforded journalists covering demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"ds7rt\">“I don’t know what it’s going to take for them to understand that the freedom of the press is well protected under our constitution,” Rowland said. “In 2025 and 2026, it seems like they’re doing things that are specifically targeting the press. That’s stepping back, not forward.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kuqf\">The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/2050246004851773599\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"72quu\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">more than two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"b68gn\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"f54h2\">Status Coup reporter Tina-Desiree Berg, center right, confronts a police officer over the arrest of fellow journalist Lexis-Olivier Ray amid workers’ rights and immigration protests in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
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{
"title": "Photographer pushed, pinned against car by police while covering LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-pushed-pinned-against-car-by-police-while-covering-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-06T20:47:18.884361Z",
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"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vcg31\">Photojournalist Chris Torres was pushed against a car by police with batons while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"fr0am\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"72rl7\">Torres, LA bureau chief for photo agency EPA Images, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering the protest outside City Hall when the LA Police Department formed a barricade line at an intersection. They said the line was to let buses into the nearby buildings and tow away cars blocking the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"1olhe\">As the officers pushed protesters and members of the press back, Torres said he became “trapped between the officers and one of the cars, and they continued to back me into the car and push me with their batons until I was able to find an opening and escape.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3hska\">The photographer said that while he was clearly identified as a journalist — wearing badges from the LA County Sheriff’s Department and the Press Photographers Association of Greater LA — he did not believe he was targeted as a member of the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"9rtj6\">“I think it was more just wrong place, wrong time,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"fk8i2\">The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1416003060571476&set=a.221666803338447\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fks8i\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">nearly two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"9pl7o\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Police_line_up_as_people_rally_in.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"60r40\">Police line up as people rally in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026. Officers pushed EPA Images photographer Chris Torres against a car with their batons while he was covering the protest.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
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"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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"targeted_journalists": [
"Chris Torres (EPA Images [Germany])"
],
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},
{
"title": "Livestreamer arrested during May Day protests in downtown LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/livestreamer-arrested-during-may-day-protests-in-downtown-la/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-19T18:10:45.043000Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-06-18T15:40:47.718551Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-06-18T15:40:47.503840Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ht03g\">Livestreamer Gonzalo Gonzalez was arrested and charged with failure to disperse while documenting workers’ rights and immigration protests in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"f65bt\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"buiqm\">Gonzalez, who broadcasts live and publishes videos through his YouTube channel EastLos Audits, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived shortly before noon to document a planned rally in front of City Hall. After around 30-45 minutes, LA Police Department officers arrived, establishing a skirmish line.</p><p data-block-key=\"d1grr\">“I went live from that point, and they started pushing the crowd on Spring Street toward the front of City Hall,” he said. “I stayed live for about an hour or so, and I got behind the police line, the scrimmage line, because I already know: If I’m in front of it, I’m going to get shoved and pushed, and I don’t want to do that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8737r\">Gonzalez, who doesn’t carry press credentials, told the Tracker that he identified himself as media to the officers, who recognized and treated him as such.</p><p data-block-key=\"f8ase\">Officers ultimately pushed the crowd of protesters back to clear an employee entrance for a nearby courthouse, and the demonstrators then marched out of the area, Gonzalez said. He ended his live reporting and left once the police dispersed their skirmish line.</p><p data-block-key=\"fnvlm\">Several hours later, the livestreamer was in his vehicle and ready to end his reporting day when he heard over his police scanner that officers were planning to corral demonstrators near the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrant detainees are being held and which has been a focal point for protests over the past year.</p><p data-block-key=\"e2al9\">“When I got there, they already had the crowd pushed out on Alameda,” Gonzalez said, referring to the street in front of the detention center. “So again, I get behind the skirmish line, and there’s a lot of media there. But in front of the skirmish line, there’s media too.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d7eid\">Gonzalez said he continued to identify himself as press, complying when an officer directed him to cross the street and then back again, as she looked for a way to have him join other journalists covering the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"9l2m2\">He continued to <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExRI2PwjEVk\">broadcast live</a> as officers began to corral the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"crq7\">“I started documenting all that, and I want to get as close as I can so I can document, because I don’t just want to catch video, I also want to catch audio, to hear what they’re saying,” Gonzalez told the Tracker. “I get on the street because I can get a better view and audio from the street, which is only, I would say, about three or four feet off the sidewalk.”</p><p data-block-key=\"379d3\">Despite other members of the press being permitted to walk in the street — which officers had shut down — a lieutenant approached Gonzalez and ordered him to get back onto the sidewalk. Gonzalez told the Tracker he tried to explain to the officer that he was just documenting, but was told that he was too close to the officers’ emergency scene. He compiled, asking the officer his name while stepping backward and onto the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"1sot7\">“I understand that we have the right to be there,” Gonzalez told the Tracker. “And again, I can see media, mainstream media, on the street. So it irritated me that he wanted us on the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"ce5n\">“So I was being a little bit of a jerk back, I’m not going to lie,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5790b\">As his interaction with the lieutenant became more heated, the officer directed another to arrest Gonzalez and take him in.</p><p data-block-key=\"8stup\">He told the Tracker that he was initially informed that he was going to be charged with obstruction, but his citation lists his violation as a failure to disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"fgk51\">A <a href=\"https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/penal-code/pen-sect-409-7/\">subclause</a> of that part of the California penal code specifically exempts journalists from unlawful assembly dispersal, protects them from interference or obstruction by law enforcement, and bars them from being charged with failure to disperse, curfew violations or resisting arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"bpgur\">At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-05-01&date_upper=2026-05-01&city=Los+Angeles&tags=protest&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">four other journalists</a> were detained in the kettle Gonzalez was documenting, one of whom — independent photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-at-la-protest-after-being-prodded-with-police-batons/\">Nick Stern</a> — was arrested but later released without charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"te7o\">Gonzalez said he was held in police custody for a little over two hours before he was released, and a hearing in his case is scheduled for May 27.</p><p data-block-key=\"3k55n\">The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/2050246004851773599\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1rmit\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">more than two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"b5fu8\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Gonzalez_-_CA_arrest_05012026.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yeoh1\">Officers prevent press from approaching a kettled crowd of protesters and journalists in downtown Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026. Livestreamer Gonzalo Gonzalez was arrested while filming the police action and charged with failure to disperse.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
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"detention_date": "2026-05-01",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
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"updates": [
"(2026-05-27 20:54:00+00:00) City attorney declines to pursue charges against Los Angeles livestreamer"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Independent journalist detained in LAPD kettle at May Day protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-detained-in-lapd-kettle-at-may-day-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-12T13:27:10.843071Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-06-18T15:42:45.503580Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-06-18T15:42:45.376731Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tcf3n\">Independent journalist Mel Buer was detained by police while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"4e1mk\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"6visv\">Buer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that as the evening went on, LAPD officers kettled a group of mostly press, sealing them inside a tightened perimeter.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-bluesky block-bluesky\"><div class=\"bluesky-embed-container\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at://did:plc:36qxymynrrlueovhitpmrfbu/app.bsky.feed.post/3mktmpaeqas2r\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreih662pb3pkvvgsk3pdk4naov3guejwotbrjccafsufmro3q5dotzq\"><p lang=\"en\">Kettled, half of us are press. NLG lawyer, press freedom lawyer. This is insane.</p>— <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:36qxymynrrlueovhitpmrfbu?ref_src=embed\">Mel Buer (@melbuer.bsky.social)</a> <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:36qxymynrrlueovhitpmrfbu/post/3mktmpaeqas2r?ref_src=embed\">2026-05-02T02:43:42.584Z</a></blockquote><script async src=\"https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tcf3n\">“There was a real moment where I genuinely thought I’d end up in a police car,” Buer wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"3tj9d\">She added that the kettle was tighter than the one <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-kettled-prevented-from-leaving-la-protest/\">she was detained in</a> amid protests in March, and the officers were unfamiliar. “They had already cited Lex, and didn’t seem interested in even having a dialogue, even with the ACLU lawyer attached to the press freedom case in the kettle with us,” she continued, referencing journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-ticketed-jabbed-with-police-baton-at-la-protest/\">Lexis-Olivier Ray</a> and LA Press Club attorney Weston Rowland.</p><p data-block-key=\"7aitp\">Journalists <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-detained-in-police-kettle-at-may-day-protest-in-la/\">Tina-Desiree Berg</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-at-la-protest-after-being-prodded-with-police-batons/\">Nick Stern</a> were also among those detained; both Stern and Rowland were arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"5oo6b\">“When Nick was arrested, and then the ACLU lawyer, I was the only press left in the kettle, and they hadn’t asked me to leave yet,” Buer told the Tracker. “Couldn’t confidently say I was safe until they walked me out of the kettle.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9s0vg\">Buer estimates that she was detained for 30-45 minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"7jfco\">Rowland told the Tracker that the police response that day showed a blatant disregard for the legal protections afforded journalists covering demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"4svbj\">“I don’t know what it’s going to take for them to understand that the freedom of the press is well protected under our constitution,” Rowland said. “In 2025 and 2026, it seems like they’re doing things that are specifically targeting the press. That’s stepping back, not forward.”</p><p data-block-key=\"frgj1\">The LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tracker, but in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/2050246004851773599\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"12id9\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">more than two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"4m10\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” that statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/signal-2026-05-07-13-57-35-907-2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bdyf8\">An officer stands in a skirmish line after clearing press and protesters from outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026. Journalist Mel Buer was later detained in an LAPD kettle and released without charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-05-01",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"name": "California",
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"tags": [
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"kettle",
"protest"
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
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{
"title": "Photojournalist pushed, threatened by individual at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-threatened-by-individual-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-07T17:58:53.278114Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-05-07T18:10:23.168256Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-05-07T18:10:23.074082Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
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"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ql24v\">Student photojournalist Blake Fagan was shoved by an individual who also tried to yank off his press credentials while he was covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"ccb0a\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ki4q\">Fagan was documenting the protest for the Daily Sundial, the multimedia outlet for California State University, Northridge, when he followed the demonstration to the detention center.</p><p data-block-key=\"9fqev\">There, an individual — who had previously sent Fagan a series of threatening messages on social media and accused him of taking a picture of his girlfriend — grabbed Fagan’s media credentials, looked at his name and tried pulling them from his neck. The man also yelled at other press in the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"aec13\">“He didn’t hit me, but he kept pushing me, saying I needed to be respectful,” Fagan said. “I didn’t know what he was talking about; I didn’t even have my camera raised, I was just standing there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c1g53\">Also <a href=\"/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-knocked-backward-by-cbp-agent-at-la-protest/\">that day</a>, Fagan was pushed by a Department of Homeland Security officer and flung backward by a federal agent, landing on his back.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/May_1_Tia_Podlubnyy_credit_of_Fag.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"izwio\">Photojournalist Blake Fagan, at left, is confronted by an individual who later pushed him and attempted to remove his press credential during a protest in Los Angeles on May 1, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"case_number": null,
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"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Blake Fagan ([California State University, Northridge] Daily Sundial)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter ticketed, jabbed with police baton at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-ticketed-jabbed-with-police-baton-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-05-05T18:05:41.109000Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-06-18T15:41:21.669339Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-06-18T15:41:21.533204Z",
"date": "2026-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pqy16\">L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray was cited by police, kettled and shoved with a police baton while covering a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"clcmp\">Thousands <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-01/la-may-day-rallies-protest-immigration-sweeps-cost-of-living\">rallied</a> in downtown LA for International Workers’ Day as part of nationwide “May Day Strong” demonstrations that also called for an end to the war in Iran and the immigration raids that have swept the city since <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025</a>. Later, demonstrators gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held.</p><p data-block-key=\"14u3c\">Ray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that LA Police Department officers had already formed a skirmish line by the time he arrived at the detention center, where officers on motorcycles started ordering people onto the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"2s501\">In <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/shoton35mm.bsky.social/post/3mkybnkvcts2i\">a video</a> posted to the social platform Bluesky, an officer can be seen grabbing him and taking his ID. The officer then issued him a citation for being in the roadway, warning him that he would be taken to jail if he refused to sign it.</p><p data-block-key=\"afp5n\">“I’m with the media,” Ray says <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/shoton35mm.bsky.social/post/3mktxe7q3s22c\">in a separate video</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dcgpn\">“It doesn’t matter,” the officer replies.</p><p data-block-key=\"44nui\">Ray said that he showed the officer his press badge, but the officer insisted that he had asked him multiple times to get off the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"9j6aq\">“He definitely singled me out,” Ray said. “I was the only person who was cited that I know of, out of a dozen or so people who were all in the street.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ajm9c\">Later, while Ray was documenting an arrest, an officer jabbed him in the stomach and chest. When he approached her to ask for her serial number, she pushed him again with her baton.</p><p data-block-key=\"lh8l\">“Back up,” she tells him in another <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/shoton35mm.bsky.social/post/3mkvcoisups2o\">Bluesky video</a>, as other officers seem to document the scene with cameras. She then gives him her information.</p><p data-block-key=\"9vqfs\">Later, LAPD officers kettled a group of mostly press, sealing them inside a tightened perimeter.</p><p data-block-key=\"dm8vm\">“We basically had nowhere to go, and we were surrounded by cops,” Ray said. “It was mostly just press at the end of the protest, very few protesters, so we should have never been kettled in the first place.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eaavn\">Ray remained inside the kettle for about 15 minutes before being released and moved to a media staging area on the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"b0ubs\">“After I left, a journalist was arrested. I was able to document them taking him to a van or something to process them,” Ray said. “But I wasn’t there when he was actually being arrested, and I would have liked to be, and it wasn’t the most ideal spot to be.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-aligned_image block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n\t\n\n\n\n <img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/SCHRECK_20260501_8776.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"828\" alt=\"COURTESY CARRIE SCHRECK\">\n\n\n\t\n\t<figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t<p data-block-key=\"bx42n\">Reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray holds up the traffic ticket he received while reporting on a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t> — COURTESY CARRIE SCHRECK\n\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\n\t</figcaption>\n\t\n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pqy16\">Ray has been involved in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Lexis-Olivier%20Ray\">14 incidents</a> in LA documented by the Tracker, most recently on March 28, when he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-by-police-threatened-with-arrest-at-la-protest/\">kettled, pushed and threatened with arrest</a>. He said what happened May 1 was “one of the most egregious examples” of how police have treated the press at demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4d3f\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-5/\">law exempts</a> journalists from dispersal orders and protects them from arrest or interference by police, including use of force. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"6uj9d\">LAPD did not immediately return a request for comment, but in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/2050246004851773599\">statement</a> posted on May 1, it wrote: “The Los Angeles Police Department fully supports the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6pmg6\">In an earlier <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">statement</a> following the March 28 “No Kings” rally — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">nearly two dozen</a> press freedom violations — Chief Jim McDonnell said that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"f7coq\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/SCHRECK_20260501_8735.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"3en1y\">Reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, at left, is detained and cited by police for stepping into the street while documenting a workers’ rights and immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on May 1, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-05-01",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
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"targeted_journalists": [
"Lexis-Olivier Ray (L.A. Taco)"
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},
{
"title": "Florida college briefly bans printing of student magazine over LGBTQ+ content",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/florida-college-briefly-bans-printing-of-student-magazine-over-lgbtq-content/",
"first_published_at": "2026-06-30T20:53:47.806897Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-06-30T20:53:47.806897Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-06-30T20:09:10.415370Z",
"date": "2026-04-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Pensacola",
"longitude": -87.21691,
"latitude": 30.42131,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vjbkt\">A student arts and culture magazine was told by Florida’s Pensacola State College on April 29, 2026, that the school would not pay to print the publication because it included articles with LGBTQ+ content. The college later reversed itself after an outcry from students and the advocacy group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.</p><p data-block-key=\"3q8r9\">Just-Opposed is a collaborative project between Pensacola State College journalism and graphic design students, editor and writer Quincy Kirn told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The magazine, produced during the spring semester, was intended to raise the profile of underrepresented local events and businesses. It included Kirn’s profile of a local drag performer; a feature on a queer, radical mobile bookstore; and coverage of a local poetry group.</p><p data-block-key=\"ceebl\">In a May 1 <a href=\"https://www.fire.org/research-learn/fire-letter-pensacola-state-college-may-1-2026\">letter</a> to the college’s president, FIRE wrote that academic affairs official Brenda Kelly told the project’s faculty adviser that the three articles violated a 2022 Florida law known as the Stop WOKE Act. Several groups had challenged the law as unconstitutional, and a federal judge <a href=\"https://www.fire.org/news/victory-after-fire-lawsuit-court-halts-enforcement-key-provisions-stop-woke-act-limiting-how?_gl=1*gwx1ma*_gcl_au*MjM4OTU0NDMuMTc3NzU3MjcxOA..*_ga*ODQ2NTI0NDEuMTc3NzU3MjcxOA..*_ga_5TVTV1MZ9T*czE3ODE2Mzk4NzUkbzIxJGcxJHQxNzgxNjQwMDU0JGoxNiRsMCRoMA..\">blocked</a> the state from enforcing it in higher education in November 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"6l1rs\">FIRE said Kelly had cited two <a href=\"https://www.fire.org/research-learn/fires-news-coverage-and-resources-about-floridas-stop-woke-act#:~:text=FIRE%20challenged%20the%20act%20on,positively%20dystopian.%E2%80%9D%20.%20.%20.\">provisions of the law</a>: one forbidding public colleges and universities from funding advocacy “for diversity, equity and inclusion,” and another prohibiting “instruction” on eight “concepts” related to race, color, national origin or sex.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ir18\">It called the college’s actions “a textbook example of prior restraint” and a violation of the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"6biua\">Kirn told the Tracker that the school asked student journalists to remove the content it deemed in violation of the law. “They said that we could either remove the LGBTQ content or it just wouldn’t get printed. And so a lot of the journalists started to stand in solidarity with each other, saying, ‘Well, we don’t want our stories published if you’re going to censor us.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"8hqe8\">Kelly, in a May 4 response to FIRE, <a href=\"https://www.fire.org/research-learn/fire-second-letter-pensacola-state-college-may-12-2026\">stated</a> that the printing of the magazine was “optional, not required,” and that the “students completed the project as assigned.” In <a href=\"https://www.fire.org/research-learn/fire-second-letter-pensacola-state-college-may-12-2026\">response</a>, FIRE noted that the “viewpoint-based denial of publication funding continues to violate the students’ First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"32amf\">College President C. Edward Meadows, in a May 18 <a href=\"https://www.fire.org/research-learn/pensacola-state-college-response-fire-may-18-2026\">letter to FIRE</a>, said that after the school reviewed expenditures prohibited under Florida law, it determined that printing copies of the magazine for students’ personal portfolios was permissible. However, he said that “no requests were made to the College administration to publish the magazine and make it publicly available.”</p><p data-block-key=\"32hoo\">The college spent less than $800 to print 100 copies of Just-Opposed, and will give two copies to students involved in the project, the <a href=\"https://www.pnj.com/story/news/local/education/2026/05/22/pensacola-state-to-print-controversial-student-magazine/90173869007/\">Pensacola News Journal reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6q3tg\">Kirn — who is also the incoming editor-in-chief of <a href=\"https://ecorsair.pensacolastate.edu/about/\">The Corsair</a>, the college’s student-run newspaper — told the Tracker that the students weren’t able to review the version that went to print, and it contained multiple errors, spelling Kirn’s name wrong and omitting work by graphic design students.</p><p data-block-key=\"fli8g\">“So we decided to rework the magazine, fix all the flaws, and we added a couple more pages. We raised $2,000,” Kirn said, referring to the <a href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-students-fund-the-proper-printing-of-just-opposed?attribution_id=sl:3b73e18a-00a4-4ea8-87d0-4be23536559e&lang=en_US&ts=1779883217&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_content=amp17_te-amp20_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link\">GoFundMe</a> set up to independently print the magazine.</p><p data-block-key=\"6hfok\">The students are planning a release <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DaBmpFWx3or/\">party</a> for Just-Opposed in July, featuring businesses showcased in the articles, as well as a performance by the drag performer profiled by Kirn. They hope to hand out 500 free copies of the magazine.</p><p data-block-key=\"fqscf\">Kirn said she was “disappointed” with the way the school handled the situation. She added that initially she was concerned that the college would try to censor The Corsair as well. But in the wake of the pushback by FIRE and the coverage of the controversy, “I don’t think that they’ll be trying to censor us anytime soon, which is the good outcome of all of this.”</p><p data-block-key=\"db4vh\">Pensacola State College did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Opposed.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"53cir\">Florida’s Pensacola State College said on April 29, 2026, that it would not pay to print a student magazine because it included articles on LGBTQ+ topics. It reversed course three weeks later.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"actor": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"[Pensacola State College] Just-Opposed"
],
"tags": [
"LGBTQ+ rights",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist held overnight for documenting city curfew in Virginia",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-held-overnight-for-documenting-city-curfew-in-virginia/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-27T20:42:58.398000Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-08-06T15:57:31.380206Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-08-06T15:57:31.211739Z",
"date": "2026-04-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Virginia Beach",
"longitude": -75.97799,
"latitude": 36.85293,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"62bh4\">Mickey Barker, an independent journalist, was arrested by police in Virginia Beach, Virginia, as he documented the city’s curfew on April 18, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"dvm59\">Barker was recording on his iPhone in the oceanfront area, where an all-ages curfew had been imposed after two earlier shootings in March and April. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was looking for local business owners and residents to interview about the effects of the curfew when officers stopped him.</p><p data-block-key=\"c2u78\">Though the City Council exempted members of the media from the curfew, Barker said he was treated differently because he is an independent journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"dmaie\">In <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CXRgzAbtN/\">a video</a> Barker posted of the interaction, an officer asks, “Sir, do you have credentials?”</p><p data-block-key=\"3h49s\">“The First Amendment, yes, of the Constitution,” Barker replies.</p><p data-block-key=\"2jig6\">“That’s not how that works,” says the officer, who was joined by other police asking Barker to leave the oceanfront area.</p><p data-block-key=\"85dgl\">Although credentials are not a requirement under the city ordinance, the officers demanded them after Barker asserted that he was an independent journalist gathering content for a story.</p><p data-block-key=\"493bi\">“You’re not press,” an officer was heard telling the journalist, before Barker insisted that he hadn’t broken any law and refused to provide his identification. The officer then took Barker’s phone and detained him in an overheated police van for about 45 minutes before taking him to jail.</p><p data-block-key=\"4brmh\">“I’m an Iraq veteran, and I’ve never sweat so hard,” Barker told the Tracker, adding, “They handcuffed me so tight that I had numbness and tingling in my fingers for about three days afterward.”</p><p data-block-key=\"81o9c\">Barker was released from jail early the next morning, and his case was dismissed April 24, according to Barker and his attorney, Tim Anderson, who say they’re preparing a civil suit.</p><p data-block-key=\"2u0fo\">“The First Amendment issue is as simple as this — CNN could have been there, but this guy couldn’t,” Anderson <a href=\"https://www.pilotonline.com/2026/04/20/virginia-beach-curfew-violation-charge/\">told The Virginian-Pilot</a>. “That’s the shocking part of this. If the guy had a CNN jacket on, he would have been allowed to be down there, but this independent, amateur journalist gets put in handcuffs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"132i6\">Barker documents happenings in his community to a small following on his <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585185375477\">Facebook</a> page, titled Billy the Billy of Rights Billy Goat, which contains occasional political commentary and documents Barker participating in protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"28q5v\">“Anybody who documents and tries to make some of it publicly accessible is a journalist,” he told the Tracker. “Journalism is an activity, not an occupation. It’s the activity that is protected in our constitutional rights.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/PFT_header_images_1.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"96xhx\">A police officer is seen in this video still asking for independent journalist Mickey Barker’s press credentials, before arresting him for violating curfew in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on April 18, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Virginia Beach Police",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2026-04-19",
"detention_date": "2026-04-18",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": "CL26002306-00",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
},
"updates": [
"(2026-04-28 18:30:00+00:00) Virginia journalist sues over arrest while documenting curfew"
],
"case_statuses": [
"ongoing"
],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mickey Barker (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter pushed, threatened with arrest while trying to question Florida mayor",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-threatened-with-arrest-while-trying-to-question-florida-mayor/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-28T14:56:52.100000Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-07-16T16:52:15.945567Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-07-16T16:52:15.755360Z",
"date": "2026-04-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami Beach",
"longitude": -80.13005,
"latitude": 25.79065,
"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ndexx\">WPLG investigative reporter Jeff Weinsier was shoved and threatened with jail by a plainclothes Miami-Dade County sheriff’s deputy while approaching the county’s mayor for an interview in Miami Beach, Florida, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"bdjt1\">The TV station <a href=\"https://www.local10.com/news/local/2026/04/21/local-10-examines-physical-contact-arrest-threat-from-mdso-plainclothes-deputy-assigned-to-mayors-detail/\">reported</a> that the incident took place while the mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, was appearing at an event at a public park.</p><p data-block-key=\"5f13v\">Weinsier tried to ask her why <a href=\"https://www.local10.com/news/local/2026/04/14/local-10-examines-why-expensive-electric-buses-sit-in-disrepair-in-miami-dade-broward/\">electric city buses</a> that cost taxpayers more than $60 million were taken out of service. The reporter sought out the mayor at the public event because, for weeks, her communications staff had told him that she would not do an interview on the issue, according to WPLG.</p><p data-block-key=\"amvk\">After Levine Cava finished an interview with the county’s own television channel, Weinsier walked up to her and asked a question. WPLG’s <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVbrDWmKocc\">video report</a> on the incident shows a woman standing next to the mayor saying, “We can speak after the program.”</p><p data-block-key=\"38bus\">Then, a man wearing a black jacket and sunglasses but no visible badge or credentials steps forward and pushes Weinsier back. The man — later identified as a Miami-Dade sheriff’s deputy, Lester Aguilar, part of the mayor’s security detail — tells everyone to move back, and shoves Weinsier several times.</p><p data-block-key=\"6en6a\">The reporter repeatedly says, “Don’t push me,” to which Aguilar replies, “Do you want to go to jail?</p><p data-block-key=\"4or00\">“For what? Standing and trying to interview the mayor?” Weinsier asks.</p><p data-block-key=\"7mupr\">At no point does Aguilar identify himself as law enforcement or as a member of the mayor’s security team.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9k9g\">Aguilar alleged that the reporter made contact with him. “The next time you put your hands on me, you will go to jail. I was just trying to do my job,” he says later.</p><p data-block-key=\"7391c\">“And I as well,” Weinsier replies.</p><p data-block-key=\"626l0\">Later that day, the mayor agreed to answer Weinsier’s questions about the buses.</p><p data-block-key=\"9mk3v\">WPLG reported that the Sheriff’s Office had opened an internal affairs investigation into the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"83hpr\">Weinsier told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that WPLG submitted a public records request to the Sheriff’s Office, seeking its policies and procedures about plainclothes officers identifying themselves when interacting with the public, “particularly before or while giving orders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fr3tl\">He said the incident hasn’t deterred their reporting. “Our focus remains on getting answers regarding the taxpayer-funded electric bus program and continuing to ask questions of public officials.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fmvru\">“That said, I do think there are broader questions that come out of this. If there are specific protocols, boundaries or a defined perimeter around the mayor when she is in a public setting, that is something journalists and the public should clearly understand,” Weinsier added.</p><p data-block-key=\"4mn2p\">The Miami-Dade Mayor’s Office and Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"cq28k\">“Ultimately, I think the key issue here is clarity. If plainclothes officers are going to engage with members of the media or the public in that way, there should be clear identification and clear rules governing those interactions,” Weinsier said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/WPLG_television_reporter_Jeff_Wei.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"nxov9\">WPLG television reporter Jeff Weinsier, at left holding microphone, was pushed by a plainclothes sheriff’s deputy while trying to ask Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava a question on April 11, 2026, in Miami Beach, Florida.</p>",
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"name": "Florida",
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"(2026-07-09 11:05:00+00:00) Sheriff’s deputy who pushed Florida reporter cleared of wrongdoing"
],
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{
"title": "Reporter assaulted by individuals at Minnesota immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-assaulted-by-individuals-at-minnesota-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-23T20:59:42.406000Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-07-15T20:42:45.761141Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-07-15T20:42:45.513977Z",
"date": "2026-04-11",
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"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oz0i0\">Savanah Hernandez, a reporter for Frontlines TPUSA, suffered a concussion after she was attacked by a group of people attending an immigration protest in the Minneapolis suburb of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"9vt8l\">The demonstration was one of many nationwide protests that day against increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, including in Minneapolis, where federal agents fatally shot Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and shot and wounded another man. Both the city of Minneapolis and the state have <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/12/us/minneapolis-immigration-officers-mobilizing-protests\">since sued</a> the Trump administration, arguing the unprecedented deployment of federal agents violates constitutional rights.</p><p data-block-key=\"9anu1\">Hernandez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was reporting for Frontlines TPUSA, the online news arm of the conservative activist organization Turning Point USA.</p><p data-block-key=\"7rge1\">While Hernandez filmed the demonstration outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, several people attending the protest surrounded her after learning she was affiliated with TPUSA. Hernandez told the group she was only there to observe and record, but the situation began to escalate.</p><p data-block-key=\"c2hjo\">“The crowd became increasingly more volatile,” Hernandez told the Tracker. “They just heard the name, ‘Turning Point USA,’ and that’s what got them very aggressive with me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1f2o2\">Hernandez filmed as people blew whistles and blowhorns at her. One woman blew a whistle inches from her ear, and someone on a megaphone yelled, “Get the fuck out of here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d6gis\">“Stop. Leave me alone,” Hernandez said <a href=\"https://x.com/FrontlinesTPUSA/status/2043091490961059930\">in the video</a>. “People are being extremely aggressive here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3q91k\">Moments later, Hernandez was shoved to the ground, her camera jostling.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-tweet block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is now the second time I have been mobbed and assaulted for filming a protest on U.S. streets.<br><br>Today these Minneapolis protesters were chanting that they were “ANTIFA” and proved it, by mobbing and beating me for reporting on a public protest: <a href=\"https://t.co/EOhyg9AFME\">pic.twitter.com/EOhyg9AFME</a></p>— Savanah Hernandez (@Savsays) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Savsays/status/2043088956351189051?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 11, 2026</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oz0i0\">Hernandez pushed away another woman who aggressively approached her. “Get off of me,” Hernandez said. “Stop touching me.” Hernandez is then tackled to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"8d05g\">Hernandez is seen being shoved by a man in <a href=\"https://x.com/Savsays/status/2043336993514373245?s=20\">one video</a>. Another <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1D4SJgKM10\">shows</a> a woman pushing her into a fence. Hernandez throws a punch at the woman in <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e45cEdDcCBc\">a third clip</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-tweet block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I'm waking up with a headache and stiff neck this morning due to how violently anti-ICE activist, Chris Ostroushko, shoved me down yesterday.<br><br>A second angle shows that he had to be held back by 5 men as he continued to charge at me.<br><br>I didn't speak a word to him all day yet he… <a href=\"https://t.co/LjDx1GMLnF\">pic.twitter.com/LjDx1GMLnF</a></p>— Savanah Hernandez (@Savsays) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Savsays/status/2043336993514373245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 12, 2026</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oz0i0\">“I realized these people were not going to let me leave,” Hernandez said. “I was basically like, ‘I feel like I’m just going to have to fight my way out of this.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"cfsrg\">Eventually, police intervened and escorted Hernandez away. Hernandez’s glasses were broken after the encounter. A doctor diagnosed her with a concussion. She also suffered sprains, bruising and a stiff neck. Her legs were scraped, and her neck and back were sore.</p><p data-block-key=\"abtfu\">A Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office report shows that Paige Ostroushko and her father, Christopher, were arrested in connection with the assault. The sheriff submitted charges to the county attorney, which are now under review for potential charging. The report lists a third offender, Deyanna Ostroushko, who has not been arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vn7u\">Chris Ostroushko <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2026/04/17/us-news/minnesota-dad-who-assaulted-turning-point-usa-journo-says-family-is-not-violent/\">told the New York Post</a> that he was defending his wife and daughter, who claimed they were acting in self-defense after Hernandez attacked them. “We are absolutely not violent people,” he said. “In fact, we tend to shy away from it.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"w-block-tweet block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was scheduled for multiple media interviews today, but I canceled all of them. <br><br>Yesterday, after my interviews I felt drained and realize I need time to recover. <br><br>I’ve been dealing with headaches, dizziness and lightheadedness and was informed by a doctor that I do have a…</p>— Savanah Hernandez (@Savsays) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Savsays/status/2044500613392675269?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2026</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oz0i0\">Hernandez said she felt targeted by the group, who she believes attacked her to make sure she couldn’t do her job.</p><p data-block-key=\"ag8jp\">“I would like to see the First Amendment protected more in the United States of America,” Hernandez told the Tracker. “I would like to see the law applied equally, so that journalists and reporters are protected no matter which city they’re in, because this type of violence against people has been happening for far too long.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5q6aa\">Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon <a href=\"https://x.com/aagdhillon/status/2043394433517838520?s=42\">confirmed</a> that the FBI was also investigating the assault. Vice President JD Vance <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reels/DXKMCdOiof_/\">acknowledged</a> the federal investigation as well.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"s62p4\">Frontlines TPUSA reporter Savanah Hernandez, at left, with two individuals arrested in connection with an assault against her, seen in a video screengrab from an immigration protest in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on April 11, 2026.</p>",
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"name": "Minnesota",
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"(2026-04-28 15:10:00+00:00) Three face federal assault charges in attack on reporter; state charge dropped"
],
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"Assault"
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{
"title": "Photographer pushed, jabbed by police baton at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-pushed-jabbed-by-police-baton-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-15T19:26:02.851677Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-15T19:26:02.851677Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-15T19:26:02.672098Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"x420s\">Independent photographer Enrique Dominguez was shoved by officers and poked with a police baton while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"34lnt\">The protest, which included <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-11/anti-ice-sex-toy-protest-outside-la-detention-center-leads-to-arrests\">a few dozen</a> participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"fss94\">Dominguez, who was not wearing a press badge but has since received one from the National Press Photographers Association, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was taking pictures of the protest and is working on a documentary film.</p><p data-block-key=\"31i1r\">While on the scene, the LA Police Department started forcing members of the press backward, away from the detention center. Dominguez said he tried to take a picture of a woman being arrested at a certain angle, but he was diverted after an officer pushed him, followed by several others.</p><p data-block-key=\"cc4le\">“They pushed us more aggressively when we started taking pictures of them arresting everybody,” Dominguez said. “The police started jabbing me with their batons and started pushing me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6l7lp\">At one point, an officer pointed at him and told him that he would be detained next. Dominguez said he just walked away.</p><p data-block-key=\"7obk8\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-5/\">law</a> allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police, including use of force. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"dpptk\">In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d4q94\">The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fc7ij\">LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">said in a statement</a> after a March 28 “No Kings” rally weeks earlier — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">at least a dozen</a> press freedom violations — that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"dn9fa\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7k78o\">Police push press back at an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Independent photographer Enrique Dominguez was shoved by officers and poked with a police baton while documenting the demonstration.</p>",
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{
"title": "Photographer pushed, hit with baton at LA immigration protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-pushed-hit-with-baton-at-la-immigration-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-04-23T18:43:16.181221Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-04-23T18:43:16.181221Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-04-23T18:43:15.986487Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"w-block-rich_text block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ytz00\">Independent photographer Jonny Morales was shoved by police and jabbed in the ribs with a police baton while documenting a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"3aoqa\">The protest, which included <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-11/anti-ice-sex-toy-protest-outside-la-detention-center-leads-to-arrests\">a few dozen</a> participants, gathered at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where immigrants are being held and where numerous demonstrations have taken place since the start of intensified immigration enforcement in the city in <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\">June 2025.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"663om\">Morales told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing the protest outside the detention center when police forced protesters to leave and began making targeted arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"bu0o7\">Officers then gave conflicting directions to members of the press. One directed the reporters to the sidewalk, while another threatened the media with arrest for staying. While standing on the sidewalk with other reporters, Morales was pushed by an officer, who also struck him with his baton.</p><p data-block-key=\"1scm1\">“Because of that interaction, I didn’t feel safe,” Morales told the Tracker. “That was just really scary and intimidating.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e7kmt\">Morales, who was carrying gear and wearing a vest that identified him as press, said one officer told him that he would be considered a protester because he did not have a press credential.</p><p data-block-key=\"c4ll4\">“I’m an independent, I’m considered press, I’m protected under state law,” Morales told police, who he said ignored his assertions.</p><p data-block-key=\"bvfms\">California <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-pen/part-1/title-11/section-409-7/\">law</a> allows members of the press to cover protests and exempts them from dispersal orders. It also protects them from arrest or interference by police during demonstrations, and does not require journalists to wear credentials to be considered press. A <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\">federal preliminary injunction</a> against the city is in place to uphold those protections.</p><p data-block-key=\"314a2\">After leaving the protest, Morales said his ribs were sore and red. Other <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-04-11&date_upper=2026-04-11&city=Los+Angeles&state=California\">journalists</a> were also shoved and hit during the scrum, impeding their ability to report.</p><p data-block-key=\"4cl27\">“I was forced to stop documenting because I was concerned about my well-being and my friends’ well-being,” Morales said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9gefd\">In an emailed statement, an LAPD public information officer told the Tracker that an unlawful assembly was declared in response to “vandalism and in the interest of public safety.” The officer added, “Following the lawful dispersal order, officers moved to regain control of the area and successfully dispersed those engaged in unlawful activity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"920ur\">The officer said the department is “aware of the complaints that have been raised,” adding that “each allegation will be subject to a comprehensive and thorough investigation in accordance with established Department policies and procedures.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fq8p9\">LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell <a href=\"https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/chief-of-police-statement-no-kings-3-0-protest-in-downtown-los-angeles-nr26067mb/\">said in a statement</a> after a March 28 “No Kings” rally two weeks earlier — which resulted in <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-03-28&date_upper=2026-03-28\">at least 17</a> press freedom violations — that any use of force or allegations of mistreatment involving media members would be investigated and addressed.</p><p data-block-key=\"fko2g\">“The LAPD recognizes the media’s right to cover events and makes reasonable efforts to accommodate, with those efforts consistent with our primary duty to maintain public safety and order,” the statement said.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7rmvh\">Officers push members of the press back during an immigration protest in Los Angeles, California, on April 11, 2026. Photographer Jonny Morales was struck with a police baton while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jonny Morales (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
}
]
